THE convener of #RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore has listed 14 key demands of the organisers of the planned protest.
The demands come ahead of the planned ‘Days of Rage’ protests, scheduled to take place from late July to August 2024.
He said, “So far, these are the commonest but fundamental demands from those who have responded to pursuing a general set of DEMANDs to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria for the Days of Rage revolt scheduled for the end of July until August 2024.”
According to Sowore, the 14 demands are:
- Scrap the 1999 Constitution and replace it with a People-made CONSTITUTION for the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a Sovereign National Conference to be immediately followed by a National Referendum.
- Toss the Senate arm of the Nigerian legislative system, keep the House of Representatives (HOR), and make lawmaking a part-time endeavour.
- Pay Nigerian workers a minimum wage of nothing less than N250,000 monthly.
- Invest heavily in education and give Nigerian students grants, not loans. Aggressively pursue free and compulsory education for children across Nigeria.
- Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarize the South East.
- Renationalise publicly owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.
- Reinstate a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation and multidimensional poverty.
- Probe past and present Nigerian leaders who have looted the treasury, recover their loot, and deposit it in a special account to fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
- Restructure Nigeria to accommodate the country’s diversity, resource control, decentralisation and regional development.
- Reform security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations and duplication of security agencies and enhance the physical security of Nigerian citizens.
- Establish a Special Energy Fund immediately to drive massive, corruption-free power sector development.
- Immediate reconstitution of the Nigerian electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove corrupt individuals and partisan hacks appointed to manipulate elections.
- Massive investment in public works and industrialisation will help employ Nigeria’s teeming youths.
- Massive shake-up in the Nigerian judiciary to remove cabals of corrupt generations of judges and judicial officers that continue denying everyday citizens access to real justice.
Sowore has declared the ‘Days of Rage’ protests to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2019 #RevolutionNow demonstration. He is urging nationwide mobilisation and calling for people to join the movement.
Eighteen-Eleven Media had earlier reported that the planned nationwide protest had put the police on high alert and caused anxiety among government officials.
The protest aims to draw attention to the country’s worsening hardship and pressure the government to reverse policies blamed for the hardship.
The medium further reported that police have issued a memo urging officers to prevent the protest.
A leaked memo said, “Some groups are mobilizing for mass protest nationwide beginning from 1 to 10 2024”.
The memo, dated 8 July and copied to zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, urged the operatives to be proactive and “mobilise well-kitted and equipped personnel” ahead of the protest.
“INGENPOL directs you to be proactive, mobilise well-kitted and equipped personnel, synergise with other sister agencies and the military, takeover all strategic points in your AOR, deploy undercover for intelligent gathering, disperse unlawful gatherings, be in a heart-to-heart conversation with community stakeholders, no form of protest must be allowed during the period,” it said.
The planned protest has instilled fear in Nigerian public officer holders, especially lawmakers who are fidgeting over possible attacks on them. The Nigerian Senate about a week ago engaged in a panic debate, expressing fear of attacks by angry Nigerians who are deep in prevailing hardship.
Also, only a few days ago, the House of Representatives announced a cut in the salary of members by 50% for six months as a demonstration of empathy with the ordinary Nigerians amid prevailing economic woes.
The protest is a response to the government’s policies, which have led to fuel price hikes, high cost of living, and food insecurity.
Organisers are demanding an end to the subsidy scam, reversal of fuel prices to below N300 per litre, reduction of tertiary education fees, restoration of electricity tariffs to affordable levels, reduction of import duties, disclosure and reduction of senators’ and house members’ salaries and allowances, and EFCC reform.
Eighteen-Eleven Media