Another EndSARS brews as protests start in states over economic hardship

"I'm no longer optimistic. I must say I'm still here in Nigeria because I don't have the money. This situation is nothing but a mess."

Starting on Monday, February 5, youths and women of Niger State staged protests against what they described as severe hardship and the increasing cost of living in the country. The residents who blocked the Minna-Bida Road at the well-known Kpakungu Roundabout expressed their frustrations with the government led by Bola Tinubu.

They were later joined by men and youths who barricaded the road and halted vehicular movement.

The economic situation in the country has become unbearable following the removal of fuel subsidy by President Tinubu on May 29, 2023.

Days after a protest in Niger State, hundreds of residents of the ancient city of Kano stormed the Katsina-Kano road to express their displeasure over the high cost of living in the state.

The residents comprising youths, old, men and women besieged the Bachirawa, Kurna and Rijiyar Zaki roads along Katsina – Kano road chanting, “We can’t bear the high cost of living.”

Like EndSARS protest

The EndSARS protests across major Nigerian cities began on October 4, 2020, after a viral video showing the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) dragging two men from a hotel and shooting one of them outside. Days into the protest, the SARS unit was disbanded.

The then Nigeria Police chief, Mohammed Adamu announced the disbandment of SARS on October 11 following the mass protests across the country.

Nevertheless, the violent protests snowballed into the demands for systemic reforms, particularly to address the socioeconomic challenges facing Nigerian youth.

Since SARS brutality was a proximate trigger of the nationwide protests, a constellation of growing poverty, unemployment, and shrinking space for inclusive participation of youth in government policymaking was its essential context.

During the protest, two correctional facilities in Edo State in the South-South were attacked by the hoodlums, freeing inmates.

Some public and private properties were also vandalised, while business premises were looted.

The protest turned bloody on the night of October 20 when gunmen opened fire on protesters-draped in Nigeria's flag and singing the national anthem- at the Lekki toll gate, Lagos killing and injuring some of them. The incident was streamed live by Music Jockey, DJ Switch.

Amnesty International at the time said, at least 12 people were killed in the #EndSars protests, and dozens of others injured.

According to the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters, at least, 46 unarmed protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullets, or assaulted by security forces at the Lekki toll gate.

Another EndSARS protest?

In a reminiscent echo of the 2020 historic EndSARS protests, Nigeria finds itself once again grappling with widespread civil unrest as citizens take to the streets in various states, decrying economic hardship and governmental inadequacies. Also of concern is the high level of insecurity across the country. 

Protests have erupted in Osun, Lagos, Oyo, Niger, Kano and some other parts of the country

The initial grievances fueled by increasing inflation, unemployment, business collapses due to the depreciation of the naira, and a general sense of disillusionment with the current administration, have swiftly evolved into a nationwide movement echoing the sentiments of the EndSARS uprising.

Protests have erupted in several states across the country, with demonstrators demanding immediate action from the government to address the deepening economic crisis.

At the assumption of office, President Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023. In his speech, Tinubu said the outgoing administration made no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 budget. “Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources,” he said.

As of Thursday, the Central Bank of Nigeria pegged the official rate of naira at 1444.56 to the US dollar.

However, Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 28.92 per cent in December 2023 from 28.20 per cent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The statistics office said the December 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 per cent points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.

The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 7.58 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2022, which was 21.34 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in December 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2022),” it said.

During Thursday's protest in Kano, One of the protesters, Usman Saidu Bello said the economic challenges or hardship was getting worse daily, hence the need for the government to take urgent steps to ameliorate the situation.

“Everybody is worried about the situation. Right from when we adapt to the situation, we are forced to come out to the streets to express our displeasure over the situation. We cannot bear the high cost of living. People cannot eat three square meals. Even the one square meal is now becoming difficult.

“A bag of rice which was sold for over N27,000 is now sold for N70,000. Sugar which was sold for N8,000 now goes for N75,000.

“We want the government to intervene and urgently take steps to ameliorate the situation. If the government fails to address the situation, we will go violent,” Bello said.

Findings by Allnews.ng show that many Nigerians have cut costs in their daily spending to adapt to the current situation while many businesses have collapsed.

Meanwhile, speaking with some Nigerians, they lamented the hardship across the country. Fadillullah Agboola in Osun State said, " I'm trying to stock the house with food with any available money because there is no stable price for commodities now. The scale of preference is in use perfectly now."

Also speaking, Adeoye Adeyinka said, "Adjust to the incessant increment in prices of commodities is hard, since a few months ago, it had been impossible to buy the same thing at the same price within the space of weeks.

"And since what one earns hasn't increased, it has become a very hard thing to maintain a particular standard for a while. These days, I just buy what the money I have can afford, not what I really want."

“I am no longer optimistic. I must say, I'm still here in Nigeria because I don't have the money. This situation is nothing but a mess,” A Nigerian journalist, Oluwasegun Taiwo lamented.

He continued, “The current administration promised to fix infrastructure, funds ended up in the hands of a few, all in the name of poverty alleviation initiatives. For a fact, the subsidy is what common Nigerians enjoy, it's not what it was said to be.”

Speaking on how he is coping with the current economic crisis, he said, “I have tried to cut cost, most importantly, I work with my scale of preference. With the current economic realities, I pay little or no attention to spendings on trivial stuff. (One is my TV subscription, when after all, I rarely watch TV for hours).

A social commentator and an expert, Olaide Ajibola called on President Bola Tinubu to quickly look into a fast solution to dollar exchange, and inflation that is battling the country before things get integrated.

According to him, these protests might be more brutal than EndSARS, which according to him, is driven by hunger and frustration.

“Nigerians are suffering, this is not a matter of exaggeration, even as it is underreported. People are dying of hunger every day. You can see that the labour pegged minimum wage to N1 million against the initial N200,000 it demanded last year — that is the rate of how things are expensive and inflation is on the rise in Nigeria.”