By Adeniyi Yusuf
Amid Nigeria’s 26th Democracy Day celebrations, the Take It Back Movement and other civic groups have began demonstration in some parts of the country and Abuja.
The protests are timed to coincide with President Bola Tinubu’s address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives today, an appearance that replaces the traditional Democracy Day broadcast to the nation.
In a statement released Wednesday, Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, explained the shift in plans, “Due to President Bola Tinubu’s scheduled attendance at the National Assembly Joint Session, the Presidential National Broadcast on June 12 has been cancelled. President Tinubu will deliver his address from the National Assembly.”
With tensions running high and demonstrations looming, security forces across the country have stepped up their presence in key locations.
READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Tinubu cancels nationwide broadcast, to address nation from NASS
In some pictures sighted by our correspondent on X, the TakeItBackMovement has started coming together in Abuja for the demonstration.
Organisers of the protest confirmed in an interview with The PUNCH not The New Daily Prime that their campaign would target the administration’s economic and social policies, which they say have deepened hardship for millions of Nigerians. The protest was initially slated to take place at Eagle Square but has since been relocated to the National Assembly.
According to National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, the location change does not affect their mission.
“That we earlier said the protest would hold at the Eagle Square doesn’t foreclose the fact that Nigerians cannot organise themselves at the National Assembly to protest the two years of misrule under Tinubu,” Sanyaolu said.
He pointed to widespread poverty, growing insecurity, and a lack of democratic accountability as central reasons for the protests.
“The unprecedented hardship and insecurity we have experienced under his government are alarming. So, Nigerians will be turning out nationwide to protest against this, and the National Assembly is one of those spaces where Nigerians can exercise their constitutional rights. We are encouraging Nigerians to move there in their numbers tomorrow (today),” he added.
Sanyaolu emphasized that the demonstrations represent a last stand for many Nigerians struggling to survive.
“All Nigerians from different walks of life have been mobilised, Nigerians are coming to the streets tomorrow (today) to demand an end to bad governance,” he said.
“Nigerians have nothing to lose. Nigerians have been beaten and battered. We are like people who are on the ground; we should have no fear of falling. It is also their constitutional right to protest.
“They have no reason to fear. The worst has happened, and the only way to stop the escalating level of our sorrow, tears and blood they are witnessing is to actually do something by protesting tomorrow. We have nothing to fear and we have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Joining the call to action, the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) also urged Nigerians to take to the streets. In a statement signed by its National Chairperson, Comrade Rufus Olusesan, the group accused the ruling elite of deepening inequality and failing the people.
READ ALSO: ‘Nigerians fully prepared, ready for June 12 national protest’ – Organisers
“The only beneficiary of this so-called democracy is the capitalist class, whose wealth has increased geometrically while most people are continually condemned to more poverty,” the statement read.
“Political office holders and other top government functionaries earn outrageous salaries and allowances while most workers earn poverty wages.”
The CDWR pointed to a dual system where public services remain underfunded while the wealthy few enjoy luxury at the public’s expense.
“In place of neglected and underfunded public education and healthcare, the capitalist class use looted public funds to patronise expensive private schools and hospitals in the country and abroad; in place of abandoned roads and basic community infrastructure, the wealthy capitalist class build their own enclaves, etc.”
