A former presidential aspirant under Labour Party and the leader of Rescue Movement For New Nigeria aka Rescue The Vulnerable Initiative, Comrade Faduri Oluwadare Joseph popularly known as Fadojoe has expressed support for peaceful protest, urging members of Rescue Movement across Nigeria to join the protest. And appealing to the youths leading the protest to do their best not to allow sponsored thugs to highjack the protest to turn it violent.
This he said through a broadcast on the official YouTube channel of Rescue TV, as he also calls on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu lead federal government not to use uniform men to launch mayhem against the peaceful protesters.
“This protest being planned by Nigerians is long overdue. Protest is simply a way of expressing dissatisfaction with government anywhere in the world, even in America where we have better governance.
“When the government is on the wrong direction, the people have right to protest. When government policies are not favourable, in line and in tune with people’s values, citizens have the right to protest.
“All across the world; from America to Europe, protest is not to overthrow a government, but to express dissatisfaction when the people are suffering. The plan protest should not be tribalized or trivialized as politicians use to do when something doesn’t favour them.
“Democracy being the government of the people, by the people and for the people; means governance is for the masses. The pertinent question to Nigerians is that, irrespective of your tribe and religion, are you better off now than one year ago when president Tinubu took over power? The answer is capital NO! When a Yoruba man is in power and the masses are expressing dissatisfaction, in the desperate bid by politicians to silence them, they will say it’s either the Igbos or Hausas that are against the government”.
Expressing his sadness that due to how desperate politicians can be to the extent of attempting to call the planned peaceful protest different name and even mobilize some youths to tag it Igbo or Hausa issue on social media.
Adding that, “if we have an Hausa man as president and there is protest, the politicians will mobilize their boys to tag it Yoruba people protest. If we have an Igbo man as president they will call it Hausa or Yoruba protest. Now that we have a Yoruba man as president they are trying to tag it Hausa or Igbo people protest.
“But the question again is that, are the Yoruba people better off in terms of welfare than other tribe now a year after Tinubu took over? The answer again is a resounding NO! The hunger in the land doesn’t care about your ethnicity. Irrespective of your tribe we buy from the same market at unbearable outrageous high costs.
“In less than one year that President Tinubu took over, more than 700,000 Nigerians have lost their job, irrespective of their ethnicity. Newspaper may not report this, but it’s the fact.
“Microsoft and some international companies that have been in Nigeria many years ago, have now left Nigeria during the president Tinubu’s administration, due to bad policies, insecurity and the instability of our naira that has been nosediving. Of course no investor will stake his investment while the currency of the country is on a free fall everyday.
“Obviously this government is going the wrong direction. And protest is a way the citizens can voice out. And peaceful protest is not a new thing under a democratic administration. For instance, despite the good governance in America, the citizens still protest over one government policy or another. Why then must Nigerian government be afraid of protest”? he asked.
Lamenting further that this is the government that asked people to sacrifice, but lavishing the national resources in wasteful avoidable extravaganza lifestyle. And since subsidy was removed, Nigerians have been hearing is huge mismanagement of funds, allocating huge sum to the lawmakers for exotic cars, buying of private jet, traveling with large number of people, outrageous amount allocated for renovations and other wasteful spending despite the hard time Nigerian are passing through.
Asserting that, “this protest is going to be spearheaded by the youths. Therefore I plead with the youths to ensure it remains peaceful. And to the youths the politicians may try to use to disrupt the protest in any form; including trying to create violence so as to discredit the good idea of the organizers. I call on such youths to have a rethink and not make themselves willing tool in the hand of politicians that have destroyed the entire system and still destroying the future of the same youths, while their children are abroad. Any politician that needs youths are thugs should be asked to call their children to Nigeria to do the dirty job.
“To the Nigerian Police and other uniform personnel, I call on you not to be used to shoot or even fire teargas as the protest will continue to be a peaceful expression by the suffering masses. No doubt that you are also cringing under the yoke of bad governance and your family members are also affected. You are supposed to be for maintenance of peace and order and not a mere tool in the hand of the government to turn the barrel of gun against your fellow citizens while they are exercising their right to speak out when the pains everyone is passing through has become unbearable, including you and your family. Can your salary put food on the table for your family conveniently and you still comfortably pay your children school fees? We all know the answer.
“And to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I want to assume he may not use uniform men to launch mayhem on the peaceful protesters as he has been in forefront of many protests in Nigeria right from the days of the military to tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, that he (Tinubu) was at the forefront of the protest against subsidy removal.
“Therefore, I call on Mr. President to call on members of his team that are now using social media to propagate anomalies over this protest and trying to tag it TRIBALISM, to desist from such act as it’s not yielding positive response.
“I, Joseph Oluwadare Faduri aka Fadojoe, support this peaceful protest because protest is a way of expressing displeasure by the masses. And I call on members of our Rescue Movement For New Nigeria across the country to also be part of the peaceful protest. No doubt right now, things are going bad in the country and it just can’t continue this way.
“We can’t continue to run a country where law and order are being flaunted when it has to do with the elite. A nation where law is only for the poor.
“I wish all Nigerians best of luck as we embark on this peaceful protest, believing it will lead to this President Tinubu lead administration to sit up and see to the untold hardship in the country. And let’s keep educating the people that protest is not a tribal issue, but a peaceful expression of displeasure over unfavorable government policies”. he concluded.