Main – Page 2 – Nigeria Solidarity

End the #EndBadGovernance ‘Treason’ Trial and Drop All Charges

End the attacks on democratic rights!

We support Amnesty International’s report titled “bloody August” indicting the Police and other security agencies of a crackdown on peaceful protesters
End the 6-year long trial and drop all charges against Abbey Trotsky who is being tried for defending workers’ rights in Ibadan, Nigeria
Prosecute police officers, army and other security officers culpable of violence against peaceful protesters in Nigeria
We call for the reversal of all the neoliberal anti-poor policies of President Tinubu’s regime since its inception and a withdrawal of the recent tax reform bill
We call on NLC & TUC leadership to begin mobilisation for a 48 hour general strike to reverse all the anti-poor policies, demand implementation of the 2024 minimum wage across all States and with an increase in line with inflation
We demand public ownership of the key sectors of the economy of the economy under the democratic control of workers, youth and the poor to ensure Nigeria’s resources are utilised for the needs of the vast majority and not the profits and looting of a few

The ‘treason’ trial of Michael Lenin and ten other #EndBadGovernance protesters is scheduled to commence on 29 January after its postponement last year. Adaramoye Michael Lenin and ten others will be arraigned in Court on trumped up charges of treason and terrorism financing which could potentially earn them a death penalty if not quashed.

Recall that in the early hours of 5 August, 2024, Adaramoye Michael Lenin and a few others in Abuja were abducted and remanded in detention. It took a serious local and international campaign by socialists, activists and trade unions before they were granted bail after almost two months in detention. The campaign to demand the dropping of charges and an end to the trial and victimisation must now be intensified. We call on you all – particularly diasporans, socialist groups and trade union activists – to join this campaign to demand an end to attack on democratic rights of working people in Nigeria.

The material conditions that gave rise to the #EndBadGovernance protests last year are still very much there and have even worsened with starvation staring in the face of an escalating cost of living crisis. The horrific deaths of about 65 people, including 35 children, in Christmas palliatives stampedes last year is a huge testament to the height of hunger and desperation to survive in Nigeria. This clearly aligns with recent reports that 33 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, would be faced with acute hunger by mid-2025.

There is no other cause for the mass hunger other than the imposed neoliberal policies of the past and previous governments on the mass of working people. The current government has doubled down the attacks by fully deregulating the downstream oil sector, devaluing the currency, amongst others, and now plans to introduce a tax reform where big businesses and the super-rich are taxed less and working class and poor people are taxed to the bone. While the regime argues for increased revenue generation through the tax reform bill, it is clearly an attempt to generate more revenue for the self-serving backward ruling elites to suit their lavish lifestyle at the detriment of an already impoverished, starving people.

These attacks are occurring against a backdrop of a meagre minimum wage of N70,000 set in 2024, that has yet to be fully implemented across all States and which now needs to be increased. With inflation running at over 30% it is not enough. The trade union leadership, particularly NLC and TUC, must be prepared to mobilise for serious struggle to force the implementation of the minimum wage while also putting forward demands for reversal of all the anti-poor policies of deregulation, privatisation, education fee hikes, currency devaluation, etc.

There is also need for the trade union leadership, socialist groups and activists to take on the Nigerian government against repression of workers, activists and socialists.

For instance, asides the attacks on the #EndBadGovernance protesters, Abbey Trotsky, who is a coordinator of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights in Oyo State, has continued to face state prosecution for the past six years. He has suffered a series of harassments including arrest and detention over this period. He has been arrested not less than eight times and is facing a trial on trumped up criminal charges for the role he played extending solidarity to thousands of casual workers of SUMAL FOOD LIMITED who went on strike, protesting against poor pay and slave working conditions.

We demand an end to the state prosecution of Abbey Trotsky and an end to casualisation of labour as well as other indecent labour practices.

Join us in building the solidarity support against an attempt to continue to enslave the vast majority of Nigerians despite the huge natural and human resources possessed by the country which if placed under collective ownership and democratic control and management of the working people can guarantee decent living standards for all. That is why we need to fight to end the rule of the rich few elites by organising for a democratically-run mass workers’ party armed with a socialist programme that can represent the working people, youth and poor in Nigeria and put an end to misery amidst plenty.

A leaflet issued by ‘Nigeria Solidarity UK‘

Tinubu’s Approval of $20,000 Foreign Medical Treatment, Bullet-Proof SUVs and Other Perks for Top Generals Is An Insult To Nigerian Workers and Masses

CDWR Demands Reversal of All Extravagant Packages for the Tops of the Military, Judges and Top Political Office Holders

It is a disservice to the toiling Nigerian workers and masses for President Tinubu to approve jumbo salaries, allowances and outrageous perks for serving and retiring generals and top military officers while subjecting those who labour to create the wealth of the country to poverty wage and pension. This approval was done through the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers and Enlisted Personnel in the Nigerian Armed Forces wherein the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and top military generals are entitled to $20,000 (about N32,000.000) local/international medical treatment annually, bullet-proof SUVs and other perks.

The $20,000 medical tourism abroad, similar to the benefits accruable to top political office holders (past governors and presidents), is one of the reasons our medical services and healthcare in Nigeria is largely neglected, poorly funded and backward. At a period when Nigerian doctors, nurses and other professionals are relocating abroad in droves largely because of poor remunerations and funding of public healthcare in the country, this approval of medical tourism for top generals is an ill-advised policy that will further deepen the rot in Nigeria’s healthcare system. Instead of promoting medical tourism, a serious government would prioritize adequate funding of public healthcare, improvement in the pay and conditions of healthcare professionals and the provision of medical insurance in order to ensure that all Nigerian citizens including political office holders patronize the public healthcare system.

Similarly, jumbo allowances and perks were approved for judges last year (August 2024) by President Tinubu that jerk up the salaries and allowances by 300%. Before the astronomical increase of their salaries and allowances, judges already earned jumbo emoluments. In the same vein, top political office holders like president, governors, legislators, ministers, etc award to themselves outrageous salaries and allowances aside from several other ‘legalized looting’.

That the same government and President Tinubu who finds it impossible to pay Nigerian workers living wage but conveniently approves all manners of jumbo salaries, allowances and perks for top political office holders, judges and military top brass speaks volume. Workers create wealth but the ruling capitalist politicians decide the allocation and in the process condemn workers to penury and misery. The N70, 000 minimum wage approved for workers cannot feed an average family and meet their other needs considering the high cost of living.

The capitalist government is paying and pampering military officers, judges and political office holders to enable it use them to hold down the working people and ensure the seamless exploitation of the working class.

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) demands an end to this unfair and class-apartheid emolument system. The CDWR demands increment of workers’ wages/salaries to living wage and to be increased in line with inflationary rate. We also demand the abrogation of jumbo/outrageous salaries and allowances of political office holders, judges, top military officers and its reduction to the average wage and allowances of skilled workers.

Rufus Olusesan

National Chairperson

Chinedu Bosah

National Publicity Secretary

CDWR email: campaignworkers@yahoo.co.uk

From “Renewed Hope” to “Renewed Hopelessness”

By H.T. Soweto

Tinubu’s Capitalist Policies Have Failed! Time for a Socialist Alternative! At a recent high-level meeting in Nigeria’s capital Abuja in May this year, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, said the following “I’d like to use this opportunity to express the whole lot of support of my government to the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu. We commend his agenda for its focus on priorities and delivery. We acknowledge that you have done a lot to put in place transparency and accountability”. (Press from the Office of the Vice President Kashim Shettima 17 May 2024). Similarly, in November, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, also commended “Nigeria’s decisive actions to reform the economy, accelerate growth and generate jobs for its vibrant population. The IMF strongly supports Nigeria on this journey.” (Punch Newspaper, 22 November 2024).

No doubt, millions of Nigerians must be wondering whether these high priests of global capitalism are talking about the same country as the one they live in when they commend Tinubu’s policies in such glowing tones. This is because over the past 16 months, their experience of the Tinubu government and its economic reforms is nothing but hopelessness and mass misery.

AN ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE

While on the campaign trail in 2023, Tinubu promised to reform the economy in order to usher in growth and development in all areas of life including agriculture, infrastructure, public education and health care and job provision. His vision for Nigeria was captured in a blueprint titled “Renewed Hope Agenda” wherein he pledged to build “a Nigeria, especially for our youth, where sufficient jobs with decent wages create a better life” and one where “no parent is compelled to send a child to bed hungry, worried whether tomorrow shall bring food. He also pledged to “make basic healthcare, education, and housing accessible and affordable for all”, and to “generate, transmit and distribute sufficient, affordable electricity to give our people the requisite power to enlighten their lives, their homes, and their very dreams”.

Nearly two years after, none of these promises has been kept. Instead, Tinubu has succeeded in plunging the entire country into a new depth of hopelessness and mass misery. Between May 29, 2023 and now, the price of petrol has increased by about 355 percent thereby detonating an inflationary rise in the prices of all commodities. The result is what has been variously described as the worst cost of living crisis in a generation! Even though GDP growth has recently improved to 3.46% year-on-year in Q3 2024, the cost of living crisis persists. In fact, so bad is the situation that millions are starving as food prices have rocketed by 61 percent over the past one year. According to a United Nations estimate, nothing less than 35 million more Nigerians are at risk of acute starvation next year.

As we have previously observed, the key to the unfolding economic catastrophe in Nigeria was the decision of President Tinubu to implement IMF/World Bank prescribed economic reforms principally the abolition of petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the country’s currency. These reforms were carried out despite their attendant negative consequences for the productive capacity of the country and in expectation of promises of more usurious loans despite Nigeria’s already huge debt profile. In the last one year alone, nothing less than 11 multinational companies have exited Nigeria. The list includes Pfizer, PZ Cussons, GSK, Jumia Food, Bolt Food, Procter & Gamble etc. Gone with them are hundreds of jobs in an economy where unemployment is at over 40 percent – although the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) claims a lower figure of 5.3 percent by saying that anyone who works an hour a week is not unemployed! The exit of the companies is reportedly due to the impact of the increase in fuel price and devaluation of the Naira on business operations. Of course, this cannot entirely be true since manufacturers already passed the impact of the policies to consumers by raising prices yet it gives an insight into the confounding economic catastrophe the neoliberal reforms have created.

Aside operational costs, consumer spending capacity has declined seriously due to inflation and effect of naira devaluation on income. The recent increase in the national minimum wage from N30, 000 to N70, 000, though yet to be paid across the country, is unable to raise the living standards of the working class. This is because in real terms, the N70, 000 minimum wage is lower in value than the worth of N30, 000 minimum wage five years ago when it was first signed into law. Five years ago when the old minimum wage was signed into law, N30, 000 was worth $83 in dollar terms, now the new minimum wage of N70, 000 is worth only $42 in dollar terms today. In addition, over 80 percent of Nigeria’s workforce are employed in the unregulated informal sector where the minimum wage law is hardly respected by employers of labour. This therefore means that even if the new wage is fully paid by both the Federal and state governments, only a fraction of the workforce would benefit leaving millions of Nigerians still struggling to survive on poor wages amidst a rampaging inflation.

LABOUR’S WEAK RESPONSE

Sadly, the leadership of the labour movement have been unable to mount the kind of resistance that the situation demands. Instead, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have spent the last one and a half years pussyfooting despite the neoliberal offensive against the working class. Occasionally, the labour leadership issues bold and radical press statements to respond to the economic policies of the government but except for appeals and threats, the labour movement is yet to put forward a clear strategy to resist the onslaught. Indeed, given the obvious contradiction between radical words and inaction, the labour leaderships seem to have drawn the conclusion that it is often better to be silent.

But even the fewer press statements have become weak politically in terms of the position of the movement on the key neoliberal economic policies of government. So for instance, labour has abandoned the movement’s traditional rejection of fuel subsidy removal and call for reversal of any increase in the pump price of fuel. This ideological and political retreat has had a demoralizing effect on the union members and also the general movement as a whole, by adding to the mood of despair or feeling that nothing can be done.

But if the labour bureaucrats thought ‘bending the knee’ to the capitalist status quo would be of any benefit, the law of unintended consequences appears to have answered their illusion. At the end, the labour bureaucrats only succeeded in weakening their own position and this was made manifest in the way and manner the regime, emboldened by the retreat, recently harassed and arrested the NLC president, Joe Ajaero. The development was a lesson in how class collaborationism or social dialogue is a danger to the labour movement. Unfortunately, the leadership of the NLC and TUC do not seem to have fully learnt the lesson leaving the rank and file activists and Socialists the responsibility of campaigning to rebuild the trade union movement and refashion it as a platform of struggle.

FOR A 48 HOUR GENERAL STRIKE AND MASS PROTEST

Part of that would include campaigning within the labour movement for a properly prepared 48-hour general and mass protest to breathe new life into the mass resistance against the regimes’ anti-poor policies. Since early this year, a mass movement against the neo-liberal economic policies slowly built – its peak being the #Endbadgovernance protest that erupted for ten days in August. Instead of answers to the demands, protesters were met with water cannons and live bullets by the police and the army. Also, hundreds of protesters were arrested and detained including member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Adaramoye Michael Lenin, who, with others, is now standing trial for treason at the moment.

A new report by Amnesty International titled ‘Bloody August: Nigerian Government’s Violent Crackdown on #Endbadgovernance protests’ has exposed the chilling details of the bloody repression which left at least 24 dead. “In almost all cases the victims were shot by the police – firing live ammunition at close range, often at the head or torso, suggesting that they were shooting to kill. Of the survivors interviewed, two protesters suffered gunshot injuries after being shot in the arm and leg by the police. Several survivors were suffocated by indiscriminate use of tear gas” Amnesty International said in the report.

Due to the scale of the repression which continues even up till now, plus labour’s inaction, the mass movement has slowly stalled but the overall situation continues to worsen. In fact, between August and now, petrol prices have gone up at least twice! Now as the year ends, many working families are bracing for one of the worst yuletide in Nigeria’s recent history due to the economic situation. In this situation, a call for a two-day general strike and mass protest especially starting early next year can help to reignite the mass movement against the regime’s neo-liberal offensive.

However, even in the likely situation that the NLC and TUC leadership fail to call a general strike, there is still a need for activists to begin to discuss how to prepare for the next stage of the struggle. For us in the DSM, we think that there should be plan for new nationwide actions starting from February next year. To make this achievable, groups and organizations like the Joint Action Front (JAF), Take it Back (TIB), #Endbadgovernance Movement, ASCAB, TPAPM, Nigeria Patriotic Front Movement (NPFM) and others need to discuss to draw up a common plan and programme.

A POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE NOW AND FOR 2027

Linked to this is the need for a mass workers and poor people’s political alternative to fight for political power. One indubitable fact that has been proven in the last 24 years of civil rule is that unless the working class seize political power and begin to run Nigeria on Socialist basis, none of the fundamental economic and political contradictions facing Nigeria can be resolved.

Unfortunately, the Labour Party (LP) registered by the trade unions has not been able to play the role of such a political alternative despite the significant support its Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, got in the 2023 general elections. Peter Obi is a supporter of capitalism – the same social and economic system and programme that is behind the crisis plaguing Nigeria. Many of Obi’s young supporters are genuinely interested in changing Nigeria. Many of them are playing important roles in the struggle to challenge the anti-poor policies of the Tinubu regime and especially the #Endbadgovernance movement which erupted in August. As the class struggle unfolds, the best of them are bound to draw the conclusion soon that what is needed is a democratically run political party and candidates that stand fully opposed to capitalism.

But what would in particular hasten this radicalization in mass consciousness is the building of a mass party of the working class, youth and poor masses on Socialist programme. Such a party involved in the day-to-day struggle of the working masses and radical youth, unlike the Labour Party (LP) which distances itself, will demonstrate very clearly what kind of party is needed to liberate Nigeria. While we of the DSM are committed to the ongoing effort at seeing the possibility of reclaiming and repositioning the LP as a genuine working people party, we strongly hold that left activists should at the same time look outside the LP for an alternative.

The African Action Congress (AAC) led by its Presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, has demonstrated clear consistency by remaining steadfast at the polls and in class struggle over the past few years. Although not yet a fully-rounded Socialist party although some socialists work within it, the AAC working with other left groups including the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), the PRP Vanguard, NPFM, remnants of the National Conscience Party (NCP), ASCAB, TPAPM, the Movement of the People (MOP) and left activists working in the LP, can become the rallying point or nucleus on the road to building such a mass political alternative. But to do this require that the left is able to overcome the inertia and division that keeps it apart by working out a common programme for joint work and intervention. Obviously, we may not agree on everything but a joint action programme would be a basis for the start of activity.

Only this kind of political preparation can place the Nigerian working class, youth and poor masses at a vantage position to seize any opportunities that may present itself to change the fortune of this country for the better by fighting for immediate improvements and building a movement that is capable of taking political power and enthroning a workers and poor people’s government that will carry out Socialist programmes.

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MINIMUM WAGE: Workers and Labour Leaders Need to Fight for Full Implementation and Resist Anti-poor Policies

#EndBadGovernance Global Solidarity Protest Call for Dropping of Charges against Protesters and End to Sham Trials

Friday November 8 saw the #EndBadGovernance Movement, Lagos State Press Statement, hold a protest march in solidarity with those on criminal trial and in detention in connection with the nationwide protest held between August 1 and August 8 over mass hunger and economic hardship. Nearly 100 protesters, including members of the Movement, Womanifesto – a coalition of women groups, CEEHOPE and community and civil society activists and lawyers, participated in the action which was ended with the submission of a petition to Chief Justice of Nigeria through the Chief Judge of Lagos State.

The protest march demanded the immediate withdrawal of trumped-up charges levelled against Adaramoye Michael Lenin and others on trial nationwide and immediate release of #EndBadGovernance protesters still held in detention.

Hundreds of protesters, including minors, were arrested during the August protests across the country following a fierce clampdown by the Bola Tinubu government which also recorded about 40 deaths. For instance, Michael Lenin, National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) and a member of Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), was arrested in Abuja in the wee hours of August 5, along with Mosiu Sodeeq, on the order of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA) to President Bola Tinubu. He was locked up for 59 days.

Recently, global outrage that followed the November 1 arraignment of minors forced the Tinubu government to withdraw charges against 119 detainees, including 32 children, who had spent close to 100 days in unlawful detention.

However, apart from these 119 detainees, there are still, across the country, hundreds in detention or on trial on trumped-up charges, including treason which carries death penalty, for merely protesting against hunger and hardship caused by the anti-poor capitalist policies of Tinubu government. Therefore, though Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others are currently out of prison, having met stringent bail conditions, they still face a charge of treason, something which means that it is not yet a total freedom for them. Also, a few days after the withdrawal of charges against minors in Abuja, 19 protesters including three minors, were put on trial in Borno State and returned to prison custody. The Borno minors were unlucky as their arraignment did not enjoy a spotlight of social media, unlike their Abuja counterpart.

*One of the protest organisers, H. T. Soweto from the DSM, speaking to the crowd.*

The solidarity action was scheduled for November 8 to coincide with the commencement of trial of Michael and 10 others at Federal High Court Abuja. A similar action was held today at the Nigerian High Commission in London, UK, the Nigerian Embassy in Berlin, Germany, and in a few other countries. However, the court did no longer sit as scheduled as the trial judge is on vacation.

November 8 solidary protest outside the Nigerian High Commission in London

*and outside the Nigerian Embassy in Berlin*

At any rate, the campaign for dropping of the charges and an end to the sham trial must be sustained. The fact that Michael Lenin and 10 others face similar charges as the 119 defendants whose matter has been discharged does not mean the former will enjoy the same reprieve. The Tinubu government wants to hang on their neck the frivolous charge of treason despite not having any proof in an attempt to make it as a deterrent to resistance and protest against its anti-poor capitalist policies.

By and large, the demands of the protest march which are also contained in the petition include:

Withdrawal of charges and discontinuation of case against Adaramoye Michael Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq, Daniel Akande, Angel Love Innocent, Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi, Buhari Lawal, Bashir Bello, Suleiman Yakubu, Opaoluwa Eleojo Simon, Nuradeen Khamis and Abdulsalam Zubairu.
Withdrawal of charges against the 19 defendants, including minors, charged before Justice Aisha Mohammed Ali at State High Court 10 in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Release of all peaceful protesters still in detention nationwide.
A public apology by the Federal Government to all protesters arrested, detained and subjected to such malicious trial.
An adequate compensation to all protesters arrested and detained.
Immediate psycho-social evaluation and support for the 32 child-protesters whose detention and trial were carried out in crude violation of the Child Rights Acts and international conventions protecting the right of Children.
The immediate sack of the Inspector General of Police and sanction for all government and security officials involved in violating the rights of peaceful protesters including minors through illegal arrest, torture while in detention as well as malicious prosecution on trumped up charges.

Other demands include reversal of anti-poor capitalist policies and an end to attacks on democratic rights.

YRC condemns Tinubu regime for placing children on trial over August 1-10 protest

Demands their unconditional release and the dropping of charges against all protestors

On Friday, 1st November 2024, the Nigerian government arraigned 76 protesters, including 32 minors aged between 14 and 17, for ‘terrorism and treason’ at a Federal High Court in Abuja and January 24, 2025 was set as the start date for their trial. The protesters who were arrested from the Northern parts of the country during the #Endbadgovernance protest that rocked Nigeria from 1st to 10 August 2024 had spent 93 days in police detention due to a court order. These 76 were the first batch of detainees to be charged as later on Friday a further 43 people were arraigned on similar charges in the same court.

The children in the first group were looking dishevelled, sick and visibly malnourished as they huddled together in the dock – a visible sign of their poor treatment and possibly torture while in detention. At least 4 of them, one aged 14 and including an adult, slumped while waiting to take their pleas; with one on the ground writhing in pain thereby the judge had to pause proceedings briefly.

We of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) condemn the Tinubu government for this inhumane treatment of the children and other detainees. We recognize that the judge discharged the 4 defendants that slumped from the proceedings until they medically fit, while the rest were granted bail but each with the now usual stringent conditions such as surety of N10 million. However, as far as we are concerned, even this is not enough because all it means is that they all will continue to stand trial over outrageously false charges of terrorism and treason.

We hereby demand that all charges against the children and other detainees be dropped completely and they should be reunited with their families immediately. Children should be in school, not in court. Putting them on trial purportedly for plotting to topple a government is nothing but a moral outrage. It shows that the Tinubu government has clearly lost any modicum of reason. Rather it has now becoming a rampaging civilian capitalist dictatorship bereft of all decency and one, fearing the population, seeks to rule by intimidation.

Meanwhile, Friday’s arraignment marks an escalation in President Tinubu’s assault on the right to protest and asphyxiation of all democratic rights and freedoms. Just two weeks ago, 22 protesters were arrested, and then beaten ruthlessly, by the police at the Lekki tollgate, Lagos state, for attempting to commemorate the EndSARS massacre four years ago.

Next week, Friday 8 November 2024, the trial of another group of 11 protesters, Adaramoye Michael Lenin (YRC national coordinator) and 10 others, for treason is scheduled to commence at the Federal High Court, also in Abuja. They are being tried for treason because they participated in a peaceful protest in August against hunger and hardship.

We of the YRC hereby demand that charges against Adaramoye Michael Lenin and all protesters standing trial be dropped immediately. We also demand a halt to all attacks on democratic rights. Protest is not treason. We affirm the right of the Nigerian people and youth to continue to organize to resist the anti-poor capitalist policies of the Tinubu regime which has plunged society into unimaginable hunger and misery.

Francis Nwapa

YRC National Secretary.

Email: yrccampaigns@gmail.com

Activists arrested and brutalised for marking fourth anniversary of Lekki killings

https://twitter.com/HTSoweto/status/1847936013747802475

Today, in the early afternoon, twenty two EndBadGovernance protesters arrested for marking the murder of EndSARS protesters were released by the police.
The #EndSARS struggle of October 2020 is a watershed in the history of Nigeria. The Nigeria ruling elites were shocked by the massive protest of young people across the country to demand an end to a rogue unit of the Nigeria Police Force called SARS. Despite state sponsoring of thugs to attack protesters and shooting of protesters by the police in various locations, for two weeks young people demonstrated resilience and unity of purpose.
Below, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Organising Committee, #Endbadgovernance Movement, Lagos State and National Spokesperson of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), had this message when he and the others were released earlier today:

“We have just been released after the Commissioner of Police came down to the Panti police station pleading hypocritically. The whole brutalisation, assault and arrest happened in his presence.

He ordered it.

Obviously the last has not been heard of this. Many of us are injured. One comrade had blood gushing from his nose. Two comrades, a male and female, were sexually molested. A male comrade was stripped naked – we had to find a rope to hold his trousers to preserve his dignity.

Many are still in shock.

I had my cloth torn by Officer Nnadi James at Panti police station. This violation of our rights and brutalisation on a day set aside to commemorate a brutal massacre four years ago cannot be tolerated.

We want justice. We won’t stop until we have it.

As for the struggle against Tinubu’s anti-poor policies, this assault won’t dissuade us. The struggle continues until victory.”

https://twitter.com/NewsCentralTV/status/1848270043076845679

#EndBadGovernance Socialists and trade unionist released on bail

09/10/2024

Eleojo Opaluwa, Michael Lenin and Mosiu Sodiq outside prison. Phoot: DSM

Drop charges, and release protesters still held

Adaramoye Michael Lenin and Mosiu Sodiq have been released from prison after almost two months in the captivity of Bola Tinubu’s government. Also freed today is Eleojo Opaluwa, a regional officer of the National Union of Electricity Employees.

Michael Lenin and Sodiq were abducted in the wee hours of 5 August by the operatives of the National Intelligence Agency in Abuja. Their abduction and subsequent detention were part of the vicious clampdown on the #EndBadGovernance protests across the country, especially in Abuja and the northern part of the country.

Michael Lenin, National Coordinator of the Youth Right Campaign and a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement, was one of the organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests. Since their arrest, Michael and ten others have been on trial on charges of treason, which carries a death penalty.

They were granted bail from 11 September following a strident local and international campaign for their release. But the stringent conditions of the bail meant that they spent three more weeks in prison. Just three out of the original ten charged with treason had been previously freed – Abayomi Adeyemi, Angel Loveth and Nuradeen Khamis.

Still in detention are Daniel Akande, Bashir Bello, Suleiman Yakubu and Abdulsalam Zubairu. Daniel, who was arrested on 2 September, was charged to court on 27 September. However, 103 are still languishing in detention in Abuja without charge and trial. Also, Khaleed Aminu and seven others remain in detention in Kaduna. In Kano and elsewhere there are several activists, journalists and whistleblowers still being held. Therefore, it is not yet finally hurrah!

We demand immediate freedom for everyone still detained in connection with the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest. Despite being out of prison, Michael Lenin and others remain on trial for treason. We hereby demand the dropping of all trumped-up charges against them. We also demand the unfreezing of bank accounts of activists and organisations which have been barred in connection with #EndBadGovernance protests.

We say kudos to socialists, trade unions and other organisations and activists locally and internationally for their various solidarity actions.

We call on working people and youth to sustain the struggle against anti-poor capitalist policies and attacks on democratic rights by the Tinubu government.

Onerous bail conditions prolong detention of Michael Lenin & other #EndBadGovernance protestors – YRC Statement

Francis Nwapa, National Secretary Youth Rights Campaign (Nigeria)

We, of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), unequivocally condemn the conditions attached to the bail granted to Adaramoye Michael Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq and eight others, who have been incarcerated in connection with #EndBadGovernance protest for about six weeks now, by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja. These conditions, which require a surety each with property in Abuja and 10 million naira, not only reflect a troubling disregard for the fundamental rights of ordinary people but also reveal a judiciary system that does not care about the legitimate grievances expressed by the Nigerians in the August protests, particularly the worsening economic hardship and mass hunger.

In other words, it is a bail which does not guarantee freedom for those subjected to injustice by Tinubu government as it is difficult to meet the financial demands of the conditions. In addition to Michael Lenin and Sodiq, others are: Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi Suleiman Yakubu, Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, Angel Love Innocent, Buhari Lawal, Bashir Bello (aka Murtala), Nuradeen Khamis, Abdulsalam Zubairu.

Michael Lenin, National Coordinator of YRC was arrested and blindfolded together with Sodiq in the wee hours of 5 August by the operatives of National Intelligence Agency on the order of Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser to President Bola Tinubu.

The charges are trumped-up and fabricated, aimed at stifling dissent and suppressing protests. For instance, one of the ridiculous charges is treason, which carries death penalty, for merely carrying placards with the inscription “End Bad Governance”.

We demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of charges against Micheal Lenin and nine others, and the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals arrested in connection with the August protests yet to be charged. These include 39 who have been slammed in Kuje prison without being arraigned in court since 22 August, and Daniel Akande who is being held at the facility of the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team in Abuja without trial since 2 September. There is also Khalid Aminu who has been in custody of the DSS without trial since the first week of August.

We also call on the police and other security operatives to stop the constant harassment of President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero and desist from the planned arrest of some socialist and left activists based in Abuja. We also demand the unfreezing of bank accounts of activists and organisations which have been barred in connection with #EndBadGovernance protests. Labour and pro-masses’ organisations should support these demands. End the atmosphere of intimidation and repression by the Tinubu government. Its descent to civil dictatorship must be resisted.

Moreover, we must highlight a glaring hypocrisy within the legal system. Corrupt politicians and other members of the thieving elite accused of serious offences often receive lenient bail conditions that starkly contrast with those imposed on ordinary citizens. This disparity underscores a systemic bias that favours the rich ruling elite who steal public wealth but penalises ordinary people for exercising their democratic rights.

We call on the labour movement, especially leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), civil society organisations and human rights groups to practically lend weight and voice to ensuring that Michael Lenin and nine others who have been granted bail to regain freedom and demand the immediate and unconditional release of all in different detention facilities in connection with the #EndBadGovernance protests.

We specifically charge NLC President Joe Ajaero to walk the talk he made during a visit to the new President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) as he was reported to have “reaffirmed the NLC’s commitment to working alongside the NBA in promoting the rights of workers and all Nigerians” (Punch, 14 September). The NLC must ensure that all those arrested and detained over #EndBadGovernance protests are released. Instructively, they include Eleojo Opaluwa, a regional officer of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Vice Chair of NLC Kogi State council.

Tinubu is using the detention of activists and attacks on democratic rights to serve as deterrent to further mass protests. Working people and youth must fight for the freedom of detained protesters and prepared to join a future protest against Tinubu anti-poor policies.

USW students demand no expulsions!

Campaigning against deportation of Nigerian students at University of South Wales. Photo: Mariam Kamish — Campaigning against deportation of Nigerian students at University of South Wales

‘No exclusions for students who can’t pay’; ‘Extend payment to the end of courses’; ‘Allow students to pay at the old naira rate of N584’.

Those were demands on our placards, as our delegation of students and supporters made its way through the campus of the University of South Wales (USW) on 3 May.

We were carrying with us the good wishes of a number of others who – due to course commitments, work or nerves – could not be there. With the Nigerian currency worth a third of what it was a year ago, many students are finding it impossible to pay their fees on time.

We were heading to Ty Crawshay – the admin building at USW – named for the old mine and ironworks-owning family which working-class people rebelled against in the Merthyr Rising of 1831.

Student staff on reception looked a little scared when we said we were there to see the vice chancellor (VC).

We marched to the top of the building and found the VC wasn’t in. So, we handed in our letter, took photos, recorded a speech – and put the lot on social media.

Now, we need to mobilise pressure to get results. Students at Surrey University have won a partial victory. We can, too. (see ‘Nigerian students face deportation but Surrey students win reprieve’)

Please send messages of support to our Socialist Party organised campaign.

If you’re a trade unionist, please say so in your message – and please ask your branch to support the campaign. Messages from those in UCU, Unison and Unite would be particularly useful. All will be forwarded to the vice chancellor at USW.

If you’re a Nigerian student or know someone who is, and this is an issue at your local uni, get in touch: contact@nigeriasolidarity.com

Nigerian students face deportation but Surrey students win reprieve

Nigerian international students are in a desperate situation.

As a result of the severe economic crisis in Nigeria, and drastic devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the naira, many students are unable to cover the eye-watering costs of living and studying in the UK.

This crisis was set in motion by the disastrous policies of the Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, whose government last year decided to ‘float’ the naira – essentially allowing the currency’s value to be determined by market forces for the first time in years. This policy instantly led to the biggest-ever collapse in the value of the naira.

300% increase

The naira has lost two-thirds of its value against the pound in less than a year. For Nigerian students in the UK, this means a 300% increase in the cost of tuition fees, rent, and other living costs.

Disgracefully, universities across the UK are moving to exclude Nigerian students who can no longer pay their tuition fees. This would effectively mean deportation, as students would no longer have a sponsoring institution for their visas.

In response to this threat, at the University of Surrey approached the university’s Nigerian Society, and helped launch a campaign to stop the expulsions.

The campaign began with a joint meeting, which agreed a set of demands aimed at university management:

Ensure no exclusions for Nigerian students who are unable to pay their tuition fees

Extend the payment period for Nigerian students struggling to pay their tuition fees

Allow students to pay their tuition fees at the pre-floatation naira rate of N584.20

As a way to galvanise support for these demands, and put pressure on management, the meeting also agreed an emergency protest for the following week. We decided to march through campus on 22 April, and deliver a joint letter to the vice-chancellor’s office, to put forward our demands, and request an in-person meeting between the vice-chancellor and representatives of the campaign.

Protesting works

Our campaign has shown that protesting wins! The university management has now said that it will allow Nigerian students to stay on at the university, if they pay 50% of their originally agreed fee instalment for this term. This is a welcome concession, and importantly gives us time to regroup, and plan the next steps for the campaign.

However, for any student who cannot afford 50% of their instalment, we must continue to demand no exclusions, while also continuing to raise the demand for students to pay fees at the old rate of naira. If necessary, we will organise future protests to back up these demands.

Spread to other unis

Another crucial way to strengthen our campaign at the University of Surrey is to spread these demands to other campuses. This crisis is affecting Nigerian students at universities around the UK. That’s why we will be reaching out to Nigerian societies around the country to initiate similar campaigns on their campus.

As part of our campaign, members in Surrey have also contacted campus trade unions which, like students, are in battle against management – in their case, over the threat of up to 140 job cuts.

Vice-chancellors cut jobs for the same reason that they charge international students ridiculously high tuition fees – to make up for a broken higher education funding model. That’s why we calls for a united movement of students and staff nationally to win fully funded, free education for all.