Written by Ugonma Uzoanya
On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast addressed Nigerians stating that he has concluded meetings with all security chiefs as regards to the ongoing ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.
Buhari further stated that he acknowledges the genuine concerns and agitation of members of the public regarding excessive use of force by some members of the now disbanded SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad). He continued by saying the choice to demonstrate peacefully is the fundamental rights of citizens as it’s in the constitution.
But in a reaction to last night’s speech by the president, the leading opposition party in the country, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) described the speech as disappointing and completely disconnected from the sad occurrences in the country.
A statement by the party’s national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan read in part:
“Indeed, all lovers of peace in our country, were shocked that Mr President glossed over the immediate trigger of violent protests – the widely condemned killing at the Lekki Toll Gate by security operatives, a situation which created a global concern and drew the attention of the world to the abuse of human rights going on in our country under his watch.”
PDP further urged all Nigerian Citizens of the country to join forces in praying for the country and working together to ensure a peaceful resolution to the crisis that seeks to envelope the nation.
The statement continued: “Painfully too, Mr. President, as the Commander-in-Chief, was silent on the demand by Nigerians for enquires into the involvement of the military in the gruesome killing”.
“Sadly, the long-awaited address failed to inspire any hope. It failed to address the trepidations, the pervading hopelessness, the drifting towards anarchy and provided no concrete steps on how to arrest the situation and rein in bandits, hoodlums and vandals that were let loose to unleash violence on peaceful protesters and innocent Nigerians”.
“In short, from the letters of the address, there were no correlations between the fundamentals of the crisis situation that we have witnessed and the long-sought reaction of Mr. President”.
“Furthermore, Nigerians had expected that Mr. President will provide the lead for the much- needed overhauling of our security architecture to meet the demands of professionalism and respect for rules of engagement”.
“Mr. President also failed to use the opportunity to further heal wounds and inspire hope by outlining a roadmap to open up the economy in a manner that will enable our teeming hard-working youths to pursue their productive goals as well as address the issue of pervading hunger in the land”.
“However, in solidarity with Nigerians and in honour to the victims of Lekki Toll Gate killing, our party has directed that our flags in all our offices across the nation be flown at half-mast for a period of one week, beginning from Friday, October 23, 2020.”
