3 months ago
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The Take It Back Movement, one of the major organisers of the upcoming nationwide protest, has vowed to proceed with its planned protest against hunger and hardship at Eagle Square in Abuja.
Naija News reports that this is despite the government’s reluctance to approve the venue.
Damilare Adenola, the organization’s Mobilization Director, appeared on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics and confirmed that a letter requesting permission to use the facility had been sent to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
However, Minister Wike claimed he had not received the letter, questioning the legitimacy of the protest organizers.
Wike, the immediate past Rivers State governor, emphasized that proper procedures must be followed, including payment of security costs, to ensure the facility is protected.
He said: “Who are these people who want to protest? They have applied to me to grant Eagle Square. Do you apply to me through social media?”
“You will write a letter to the minister. I will see you; who are you; what do you want to do? How many days do you want to spend? How much will you pay?
“You must apply properly. You must pay what we call security cost so that if there is any damage to the facility, we will take from that security cost and repair it.
“We don’t just give people because you have applied. You must fulfil the conditions. People have paid for Eagle Square, and you said you have applied to me now.
“So, I should go and cancel the other people’s own because you want to protest? It is first come, first served.”
Reacting, Adenola attributed the delay in delivering the letter to bureaucratic hurdles, but assured that the minister would receive it on Monday (today).
He argued that the Eagle Square is public property and that the minister’s demands for payment were unreasonable, given the economic hardship faced by many Nigerian youths.
“It is possible that the receipt of the letter is being delayed by most likely bureaucracy in government or the minister is likely being insincere about receiving the letter.
“If he (Wike) insists that he hasn’t received it, the alternative is that he was served by publication because many Nigerian ministries streamline what to receive or not. If he says he didn’t get it physically, then we could as well say that he was served by publication.
“The truth is that the Eagle Square is a public property. When I saw the video of the minister, I was amazed because I saw the minister asking us to pay rent, pay security fees and all that.
“My question to the minister is this: how does the minister expect a greater population of Nigerian youths who are impoverished, who have no jobs to afford what he is expecting us to pay?” he asked.
The protest, scheduled for August 1st to 10th, aims to address economic hardship and has gained traction on social media.
Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, emphasized that protesters have the constitutional right to assemble peacefully without requiring a permit, citing Section 40 of the Nigerian constitution.
He urged the government to engage with the youths rather than dismiss their concerns.
“We need to cut the protesters some slack because they have expressed their commitment to exercise this right to protest peacefully. The government should learn to talk with the youths and not talk at them,” Itodo said.
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