Dons Eze
The nationwide protest designed to draw the attention of the government to hunger in the land kicked off on August 1 as planned by the organizers. Except states in the South East where it was business as usual and there was no protest of any sort, protesters took to the streets in other major cities in the country.
But while the protest was reasonably peaceful in the southern part of the country, the story was different in the north from the first day of the protest.
While the protesters in the south were armed with placards denouncing the policies of the government that brought about hardship in the country and marching peacefully on the streets, their counterparts in the north were armed with sticks and other weapons, destroying private and public facilities, looting shops and causing mayhem. The carnage and destruction by the protesters in the north were so massive that curfew was declared in no fewer than five states while scores of protesters also lost their lives.
Northern leaders who spoke on why the national protest assumed a violent dimension in the north were unanimous in their assessment. The northern leaders warned that the millions of young people in northern Nigeria who were being used to cause violence are a time bomb not just for the north but the whole country and the earlier something is done about the issues concerning the north the better for the country.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, who went round the state capital to assess the level of destruction said most of the children in the north who took part in the protest were uneducated and they were underage.
According to him, “because of the fact that 65 per cent of the people in the north are very poor, it was therefore very easy for some elements who orchestrated and sponsored the protest to misinform, misguide and recruit most of these gullible children.
The sponsors of these violent protests worked on the psychology of the children and made them believe that since our people in northern Nigeria are very close to our neighbouring countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, what happened in those countries can also happen in Nigeria. So, this protest has nothing to do with bad govern.
The violence in the north is a bottled up anger which has generated for decades and now an opportunity came. The millions of young people in northern Nigeria today who have demonstrated by the use of violence are a time bomb not just for the north but for the whole country.
The earlier we do something about the endemic poverty and destitution in the north the better for the country. Quite rightly we must hold President Tinubu to account as the elected president of this country but he is not the problem and he is not the solution to the issues we face in northern Nigeria.
The poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment, extremism and terrorism which we have been facing in the north for about three decades were products of abject neglect by successive leaders who come from our own part of the country. If we are going to share the blame, I can say President Tinubu should take 10 per cent of the blame but the bulk of it has to do with the leadership that failed to use the opportunity of power to utilize the resources of the region for the benefit of the people of the region.
The governors, political leaders, religious leaders, business leaders and intellectuals of the region need to converge and address the issues of poverty and underdevelopment in the region so that this will come to an end. The problems of the north can largely be solved by the people from the north.
The protesting children in the north are a time bomb —Gov Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, also speaking in an interview on Channels television’s programme, Politics Today, on Thursday agreed with Senator Shehu Sani, who appeared on the same programme a day earlier, that the protesting children in the north were indeed a time bomb for the country.
According to him, “the almajiri kids, some of whom were 5 years or 7 years old, were the ones on the streets protesting.
They didn’t even understand what the protest was all about. As leaders, we must do what is right for our people. We should go back to the farms. And if you can’t afford more than one wife, don’t marry more than one. We need education in the North, otherwise, these kids on the streets are a time bomb. At the next meeting of the northern governors, we must tell ourselves the truth and decide on the way forward”.
“Some protesters in the North engaged in looting and destruction because of the prevalence of poverty, unemployment, insecurity and illiteracy in the region.
Many of the protesters are victims of kidnappings and killings that happen almost on a daily basis in the northern part of the country. Poor governance is also a trend in the region. The north lacks functional public schools and health centers.
Governments at all levels should address the aforementioned problems bedevilling the region to forestall future occurrences.
The federal government should revisit the issue of withdrawal of oil subsidy to reduce the suffering of the Nigerian citizens. That will go a long way in curtailing future protests and the destruction and looting therein”
Frustration, hopelessness push residents to violence —Alhaji Yerima Shettima, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF)
“There are several factors that may have contributed to the protesters in the north resorting to violence. One possible reason is the level of poverty and desperation in the region. The northern part of the country has long been plagued by poverty and lack of economic opportunities, leading to a sense of frustration and hopelessness among the residents.
In such circumstances, some individuals may feel that peaceful protest is ineffective in bringing about change and resort to more aggressive tactics to vent their anger and frustration. Another factor that may have influenced the behavior of the protesters in the north is the presence of criminal elements and opportunists within the crowd.
It is not uncommon for protests to attract individuals who take advantage of the chaos to engage in criminal activities such as looting and vandalism. These individuals may not share the same motives as the organizers of the protest and may be more interested in personal gain rather than advocating for social change.
The lack of effective leadership and organization within the protest movement may have also contributed to the escalation of violence. Without clear guidelines and a unified strategy, protesters may act impulsively and engage in destructive behavior without considering the consequences. In contrast, the southern protests were well-organized and disciplined, with clear goals and peaceful methods of expression”.
There’s parental failure in children’s upbringing —Elder Sunday Oibe, Secretary, Northern CAN
“The unfortunate thing that happened in the northern part of the country should cause every responsible leader and parent in the region to worry. The protest that was intended to force the government to awaken to their responsibility to the citizens was hijacked by criminal elements in the North which was unfortunate.
What has looting of private owned businesses and destruction of public properties got to do with bad governance ( hunger) protest? In my opinion, the development in the North has to do majorly by the decline in parental responsibility in the upbringing of their children. The moral values and failure of most parents to inculcate ethical discipline is a contributing factor.
Secondly, the deceptive lifestyle of most northern politicians who hitherto impoverished the youths by using them as political thugs during elections only to abandon them to hunger and suffering, should be held accountable.
The development in the North is taking a dimension that is criminal in nature, and seems to be influenced by some forces. Otherwise, how does one explain the connection between a peaceful protest against governance and the displaying of the Russian flag in a purely domestic matter? Why do the same individuals never see anything wrong with the wasteful eight years of the Buhari government in the country and the northern region in particular? In my opinion, there is an urgent need for an inward look by opinion leaders in the North”.
Defined leadership of the protest was absent — Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Gujungu,Arewa Youth Forum
“We had envisaged that the protest would be hijacked by those with ulterior motives since it had no clear and defined leadership in the North.
The wanton looting and destruction by hoodlums, who disguised as protesters, has revealed that some enemies of the Nigerian state are manipulating the youths to cause anarchy.
Waving the Russian flag by underage children who may not even know the legal implication of what they were doing, and the call for the military to intervene, had clearly exposed the sponsors of the protest and we welcome the arrests made so far.
We call on parents to live up to their responsibility of proper upbringing of their children, who were exploited for pittance to work against constituted authorities”.
More ignorance, poverty in the North than South —Anthony Sani, former Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)
“We have more out of school children in the North than in the South. It follows that there is more ignorance and poverty in the North than in the South.
What happened in the North during the protests underscore the wisdom of those who posit that if northern leaders do not address challenges of out of school children very seriously, such out of school children will be tomorrow’s Boko Haram, bandits, gun men and kidnappers.
Thankfully, the protesters have yielded and are obeying the curfew in the various states which means the North has not lost control of the youths completely. Purposeful leadership, determination and political will are needed to shape events instead of allowing events to shape the North”.
Criminal elements took advantage of failed parenting to incite children —Rev Joseph Hayab, former CAN Chairman, Kaduna State
“It is sad that the protest that was planned to be a peaceful one to demand the Government to address hunger and bad governance ended up being hijacked by some criminal and ignorant elements from our region for looting and destruction.
Their actions have justified the fears of those who said the protest would be hijacked as they suspected ulterior motives by the sponsors. Hunger, poverty and bad government affect every section of this country and if we must use protest to correct the wrongs then we must be wise and not to instigate young children who have no understanding of the issues and thereby project us in a bad light. Responsible parents from the North should wake up and take up the challenge of moral upbringing of their children seriously.
If truly these youths had sponsors then the sponsors only took advantage of failed parenting to incite these children.
Looking at the young children protesting violently in the North, it was evident that the children of the privileged people who go to buy the expensive fuel everyday did not come out.
To further confirm their ignorance and the suspicion that they were recruited for evil, we heard them chanting that they wanted the military to come back.
Who do you think is in his right mind and is knowledgeable about what happened during the years of military rule that will make such suggestions? Only selfish politicians and enemies of the progress of the nation will support such an idea”.
Protest lacks coordination, leadership in the north —Alhaji Mohammed Salihu Danlami, Speaker, Arewa Youth Assembly
“Here in Northern Nigeria, we believe in coordination and leadership from our traditional rulers, religious leaders and political leaders.
However it’s crystal clear that most Northern leaders weren’t part of the protest which makes it lack coordination and leadership. Looting of property has become the norm in modern protest worldwide, as we witnessed what happened in London,Thailand, Bangladesh, ENDSARS protest among others.
In this era of social media, people copy what they learn from social media, either good or bad. Most of the protesters were people hit directly by hardship and many hoodlums were only waiting for an opportunity to steal. Sadly the sponsored hoodlums only took complete advantage of the protest to loot and vandalize.
The recent demonstrations in Nigeria were genuine expressions of discontent. Peaceful protesters had gathered to voice their grievances, but unfortunately, some external agents sponsored thugs to infiltrate and tarnish the protest with violence. Despite this, the core message remained clear: Nigerians demand an end to bad governance.
The protesters’ peaceful intention should not be overshadowed by the action of a few troublemakers. The focus should remain on addressing the pressing issues of governance in Nigeria.”
