Residents of Osun State have been urged to come out and protest the current economic hardship being experienced in Nigeria.
Making the call during a press briefing in Osogbo on Thursday, the Chairman and Secretary of the Osun Civil Societies Coalition, OCSC, Waheed Lawal and Emmanuel Olowu also gave the federal government seven days to address the worsening economic situation in the country.
The duo also said it has now become important that the Nigerian people begin to mobilise and organise themselves for mass action.
“It is time to be united again for a common goal as we did in 2012. We hereby give the federal government a seven-day ultimatum to address the worsening economic situation, the failure of which we are going to occupy the state and Nigeria at large.
“We call on labour and trade unions, artisans, market men and women, students and other Nigerians being affected by this economic hardship to join the imminent struggle of Occupy Nigeria 2024.”
While lamenting that the removal of subsidies has cast a shadow over the economic stability of Nigeria and led to a hampering of productivity and killing of small and medium-scale enterprises, OSCS said the development has taken away the purchasing power of the Nigerian people.
“It has created hunger, starvation and skyrocketing foodstuffs and essential commodities prices, among other woes.
“It is clear that the common Nigerian people have not gained anything from the subsidy removal, while the government officials are becoming richer daily.
“The worst of the agonies is the ongoing food crisis where staple foods are now exclusive and unaffordable for the common Nigerians. The hardship is more alarming and heading towards the elastic limit.”
While blaming the federal government and National Assembly for depriving Nigerians of the gains of subsidy removal, the group also blasted the Osun State Government for not being humane and judicious on the state’s finances.
“We have seen the manifestation of corruption on the gains of the fuel subsidy removal by various ministries under the Tinubu administration. All the palliative initiatives are wired with fraud and insincerity. For how long will the government continue to lavish on palliatives that do not reach the common people?”
The leaders of the group also insisted that they were not afraid of arrest at the protest.
“We are resolute. Protest is our fundamental right. Let the state agents be informed. We are products of popular struggles.”
Economic Hardship: Osun group calls for mass protest
