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Broadcast: Soyinka Hammers Tinubu’s Address, Response to Protests
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has hammered President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday morning broadcast declaring that it failed to address police brutality.
Soyinka said, “I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation.
“His outline of government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.
“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.
“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.
“They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation. The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed ENDSARS protests.
“It evokes pre-independence – that is, colonial – acts of disdain, a passage that induced the late stage pioneer Hubert Ogunde’s folk opera BREAD AND BULLETS, earning that nationalist serial persecution and proscription by the colonial government.”
Soyinka noted that the “nation’s security agencies cannot pretend unawareness of alternative models for emulation, civilized advances in security intervention”.
He said, “Need we recall the nationwide 2022/23 editions of what is generally known as the YELLOW VEST movement in France? Perhaps it is time to make such scenarios compulsory viewing in policing curriculum. In all of the coverage that I watched, I did not catch one single instance of a gun leveled at protesters, much less fired at them even during direct physical confrontations.
“The serving of bullets where bread is pleaded is ominous retrogression, and we know what that eventually proves – a prelude to far more desperate upheavals, not excluding revolutions.
“The time is long overdue, surely, to abandon, permanently, the anachronistic resort to lethal means by the security agencies of governance. No nation is so under-developed, materially impoverished, or simply internally insecure as to lack the will to set an example. All it takes is to recall its own history, then exercise the will to commence a lasting transformation, inserting a break in the chain of lethal responses against civic society.
“Today’s marchers may wish to consider adopting the key songs of Hubert Ogunde’s BREAD AND BULLETS, if only to inculcate a sense of shame in the continuing failure to transcend the lure of colonial inheritance where we all were at the receiving end. One way or the othetinubu’svicious cycle must be broken.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has decided not to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York this year.
The president has thus directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation.
President Tinubu, who returned to the country last Sunday after his trip to China and the United Kingdom, according to a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, wants to focus on domestic issues and address some of the country’s challenges, especially after the recent devastating flooding.
“At UNGA 79, Vice President Shettima will deliver Nigeria’s national statement to the General Assembly, attend important sideline events, and hold bilateral meetings.”
“The high-level General Debate, with the theme ‘Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations,’ will run from Tuesday, September 24, through Saturday, September 28, 2024,” the statement added.
Since return to democratic governance in 199, Shettima will be the first Vice President to Nigeria’s delegation to UNGA.
Only Goodluck Jonathan represented Nigeria as Acting president in September 2010 at the 65th UNGA, while late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was away in Saudi Arabia due to his ill health.
The Plateau State House of Assembly, on Thursday, approved N5.8bn for the conduct of the local government election in the state slated for October 9, 2024.
The approval by the House followed a communication from Governor Caleb Mutfwang, which was read at plenary by the Assembly Speaker, Gabriel Dewan.
The Speaker stated that the request was necessary as there was no budgetary allocation for the LG elections in the 2024 budget.
A member of the State Assembly, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak for the Assembly, confirmed the development to The PUNCH in Jos on Thursday.
The lawmaker said, “Governor Mutfwang, at Tuesday’s plenary, sought the House’s approval for N5.7bn as the 2024 supplementary, which was increased after upward review by the legislators.”
He continued, “The House leader, Joseph Bukar, presented the bill during our plenary. While soliciting the support of members for speedy passage, he said PLASIEC was running out of time in preparation for the election.”
“In their individual contributions, Hon. Kalamu Dal suggested a downward review of the budget size, while Hon. Daniel Nanbol urged for a critical review and deliberations. Afterwards, members approved a revised sum of N5.8bn, as opposed to the N5.7bn requested.”
The increase, as explained by Bukar, was due to an increase in security allocation for the election, from N2.7m to N4.2m. “So, that is what happened, and that is where we are at the moment regarding the forthcoming LG election,” the lawmaker concluded.
Security measures have been intensified in Enugu and Kwara states ahead of their Local Government elections scheduled for Saturday, September 21, 2024.
In Enugu State, the Police Command has pledged to ensure the safety of lives and properties during the elections.
However, the peace accord signing for the elections was marred by the absence of major parties like the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress, and Labour Party.
Only representatives from the All Progressives Grand Alliance and Accord attended but chose not to sign the accord, citing the lack of participation from the leading parties.
Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, said all wards and flashpoints had been identified, and security personnel would be on high alert to prevent any disruptions.
The Chairman of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, Prof. Chris Ngwu, said the commission was fully prepared for the elections with the support of the state government in procuring necessary materials.
In Kwara State, security agencies have been actively coordinating to ensure a smooth electoral process.
Over 3,000 personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have been deployed across the state.
The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission has completed arrangements for a trouble-free election.
Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, reported that a strategic meeting with heads of various security agencies, including the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, and others, had been held to ensure coordinated efforts for maintaining law and order.
The Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, guaranteed maximum security for the election period.
The NSCDC Commandant, Dr. Umar Mohammed, announced the deployment of 3,000 personnel to various polling units and emphasised their role in preventing violence, ballot snatching, and other disruptions.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, Telumun Tombowua, announced on Thursday that eight political parties will participate in the upcoming LG elections in the state, scheduled for October 5, 2024.
Addressing journalists in Makurdi, Tombowua said the election would be conducted fairly and transparently.
He emphasised that the law establishing the BSIEC does not permit the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation Machines for this election.
Regarding the APC, Tombowua confirmed that the National Working Committee of the party had requested the commission to work with the seven-man caretaker committee appointed to oversee party affairs in the state.
He noted that while 14 parties had initially shown interest, only eight completed the necessary processes and submitted their candidates.
Shettima becomes 1st VP to lead Nigeria’s delegation to UN Assembly in 25 yrs
Plateau Assembly approves N5.8bn for LG election
Enugu, Kwara tighten security ahead of LG polls
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