Call off planned hunger protest, NBA tells organisers

The Nigerian Bar Association has appealed to the organisers of the planned #EndBadGovernance nationwide protest slated to start August 1, to rethink and call it off.

The NBA president, Mr Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), in a statement on Monday, urged the government, the organisers and the supporters of the protest to come together and have a heart-to-heart discussion on how to turn the situation around for the benefit of all citizens.

Maikyau noted that a look at the country’s history of mass protest shows that it gets hijacked by unscrupulous criminal elements who seize the opportunity to commit heinous crimes.

While noting that the planned protest may not be any different from previous ones, he feared that the development could lead to civil unrest which will be worse compared to whatever the masses are currently going through.

He said, “I most humbly appeal to Nigerians, particularly those that have decided to embark on the planned street protest to have a rethink and take a second look at what could be the possible outcome of embarking on such exercise to our security, economy, and existence.

“Our past experiences with mass protest are that they are usually hijacked by unscrupulous elements who use the opportunity to commit heinous crimes and thus turn an otherwise peaceful protest into a riot.

“Whatever we are going through right now cannot be compared to the experience of civil unrest and the chaos that could ensue therefrom. Needless to mention nations that are currently going through wars with the attendant carnage and destructions. We do not even want to imagine what the experience would be, and we must forbid it.

“My humble call and appeal, therefore, to both government, the organisers and/or proponents and supporters of the planned protest, is to call off the protest, come together for a frank and sincere discussion on what must be done to immediately begin to turn around the plight of the people for good.”

The outgoing NBA president also suggested that mechanisms should be put in place for government-people engagement on a regular periodic basis.

According to him, timelines for certain specific actions should be put in place and implemented as the circumstances dictate.

He called on members of the National and State Houses of Assembly to immediately engage with their constituents based on the plans of government at the federal and subnational levels to address the demands of the people.

On the other hand, he urged the government to seek workable ways to revamp the economy and swiftly fix the insecurity bedevilling the nation as according to him, it is largely the cause of hunger and poverty in the country.

He said, “We have consistently and in no unclear terms, called the government’s attention to the sufferings of the people of this country and the need for the government to take clear and decisive steps to revamp the economy and get Nigerians out of hunger and poverty, caused largely by incidents of the insecurity across the country.

“The current state of the nation was engendered and sustained by corruption in its different forms and shades, in both public and private sectors.

“While this cannot be solely blamed on the current administration, we had on the subject of national security, vide my letter of June 12, 2023 to President Bola Tinubu, called the attention of this administration to the need for informed investments in the security sector of this country.  This was absolutely necessary, because of the direct impact of insecurity on the economy and the prosperity of our people.”

The statement further recommended that a National Security Summit be convened, where serving and retired military, police, intelligence, and other law enforcement officers would assemble to reexamine the nation’s security situation, proffer workable solutions and implementation strategies.

“Traditional institutions and religious leaders should be co-opted and given specific tasks in this regard. Civil society organisations should be engaged at all levels of the proposed dialogue and in the monitoring of the implementation of the decisions that may be reached,” the statement added.