Uncategorized – Page 3 – Nigeria Solidarity

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

Frequent Fuel Price Hikes Worsen Impoverishment of the Masses

For a 48-hour general strike as first step! Now!

A Conference of Trade Unions, Left Activists and Socialists to Discuss Alternative to Neo-Liberal Capitalist Programme is Needed

The frequent increase in the price of petrol is yet another proof that there is no let off for working people and the poor from the devastating attacks on the living standards by Bola Tinubu’s government. The latest official hike in October means that the price has risen by the whopping 430 percent from N198 to N1030 officially, since May 29 2023 when Tinubu proclaimed that “petrol subsidy is gone”. This is part of a neo-liberal offensive, which also includes devaluation of the naira, that has seriously compounded the economic crisis that actually preceded Tinubu’s government coming to office. As a result, many Nigerians have been plunged deeper into poverty, depreciation of quality of life and economic hardship, while large parts of the economy are imploding and society shows signs of disintegration. We join the working masses and youth to condemn the hike in petrol price and call for the reversal of all anti-poor capitalist policies which are at the root of the current mass economic hardship.

By Peluola Adewale

Certainly, action is needed to get out of this mess. And truly, working people and youth, through a series of pockets of protests against mass hunger which broke out in February and #EndBadGovernance protests which started off in August, have demonstrated an indication of their preparedness for mass resistance against the anti-poor policies. We of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) are committed to contributing to the ongoing efforts at building the #EndBadGovernance movement such that it is capable of consistently organizing a series of nationwide mass actions to win immediate steps to improve living standards and also provide a basis for a mass political alternative.

At the same time, we call on workers and trade union activists to agitate at workplaces, factory floors and trade union organs for the leadership of the organized labour especially the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to act responsibly and seriously in defence of the interests of ordinary workers. Sadly, the labour leadership at best hardly go beyond radical words and token actions in the face of the raging neo-liberal attacks. There have also been different disturbing examples of labour leaders issuing ultimatums or threats without any follow-up action despite the government ignoring the demands or even doubling down with further attacks.

NO SERIOUS FIGHTBACK

Sadly, it is the lack of a serious fightback from the NLC and TUC that has handed Tinubu’s government a field day to confidently unleash vicious attacks on workers and ordinary people. For instance, the current Labour leadership have not held any protest or strike over any fuel price hike, despite of at least four such hikes since Tinubu assumed office. At the same time, they turn a blind eye to the ruinous policy of the naira devaluation. There was also a deafening silence to the wave of outrageous fee hikes in tertiary institutions. It appears these leaders have accepted, or capitulated to, the neo-liberal economic programme or are confused as a result of lacking a clear-cut alternative to the neo-liberal programme. Hence, they don’t put up a serious fight beyond making an occasional radical statement or calling for palliatives.

For instance, on September 3, the NLC issued a statement over the increase in petrol price from about N600 to N897, lamenting how they had been betrayed by Tinubu but promising that “In the coming days, the appropriate organs of the Congress will be meeting to take appropriate decisions which will be made public.” More than six weeks after, there was no such a meeting let alone any decision. However, while they were still dilly dallying or apparently believing that Nigerians “were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities” and hence saw no need to fight, the Tinubu government further increased the petrol price.

Similarly, in reaction to the latest petrol price increment, NLC President Joe Ajaero on Arise TV on October 11 said the NLC’s CWC or NEC should hold a meeting the following week “where a decision on the next line of action will be taken”. Actually, a joint meeting of NLC and TUC NECs was called for October 16. But it was initially a matter of conjecture on whether the meeting was held or not, as there was no public statement or communique, until Vanguard on October 23 did an exclusive story, credited to “sources at the NEC meeting”, on the reported outcome of the meeting. Worse, there has not been even an internal memo on the resolution of the meeting to affiliates and state councils many of whom were not represented at the meeting.

Why is it difficult for both the leadership of the NLC and TUC to do something which is as routine as issuing a communique or internal report of a meeting where important issues, which adversely affect the wellbeing of workers, including the rapid erosion of an ordinarily paltry minimum wage even before its implementation, were supposed to have been discussed? This could only be as a result of a lack of conviction or seriousness to fight back. Besides, given their socio-economic status, many labour leaders don’t wear the same shoe as ordinary workers and therefore don’t really know where it pinches. All these explain why the reported outcome of the meeting is filled with platitude and moralization, rather than a fighting program of action to force the Tinubu government to reverse the price hike and other anti-poor policies. Therefore, the labour leaders, as summed up by the Vanguard in the title of the story, merely demanded “halt to frequent petrol price increase, other anti-people policies” (Vanguard, October 23).

We also find it worrying that sometimes the NLC leadership apparently in a desperate bid to absolve themselves of responsibility would make a statement that suggests naivety. For instance, NLC President Ajaero once said that “One of the reasons for accepting N70,000 as national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price of PMS would not be increased even as we knew that N70,000 was not sufficient.” (Premium Times, September 3, 2024). We see this as an excuse from labour leaders who are not prepared to fight against neo-liberal policies or to seriously struggle for a decent wage. Otherwise, it is belittling for labour leaders, who know their onions, to believe that a government that has not hidden from inception its commitment to a neo-liberal capitalist agenda and market fundamentalism would not increase petrol price.

Again, if there were determination to fight to protect the interest of workers, resisting capitalist attacks on living standards such as fuel price hike and struggling for decent wage would not be taken as being mutually exclusive. This is especially when inflation as a result of the neo-liberal policies of fuel price hike and naira devaluation had already meant that N70,000 being offered as the national minimum wage was much lower in value than N30,000 in April 2019 when that was signed into law.

Also, in its statement of October 9, the NLC challenged “the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy”. They also told the government to “be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country” These statements suggest that the NLC leadership does not know that the Tinubu government is clear about its blueprint which is based on neo-liberal program or they erroneously believe it is possible to tweak the neo-liberal programme, in a neo-colonial economy, in such a way to guarantee “an inclusive economic growth and national development”. Besides, it is the labour leaders, because of their refusal to fight for the reversal of the anti-poor policies, who in reality enable what they denigrate as “spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy” of Tinubu government.

WAY FORWARD

Ordinarily what labour leaders should do instead of calling for a blueprint, something which is not missing, is to present an alternative economic agenda. The problem is that it appears they themselves do not believe there is an alternative to neo-liberal capitalist programme of Tinubu government. It explains why they uncritically supported Peter Obi who also openly advocated petrol subsidy removal and devaluation of the naira in the 2023 election. While Obi is now making regular criticisms of the Tinubu government, some of which are accurate up to a point, he does so on the basis of supporting capitalism which is the root cause of Nigeria’s permanent underdevelopment and widespread poverty. This is why Obi’s programme does not offer a real way forward for the vast majority of Nigerians.

Therefore, we reiterate our call on workers and trade union activists to agitate within the trade union movement, workplaces and communities for the return to the tradition of Labour opposing neo-liberal capitalist agenda and capitalism itself which naturally militate against the interest of workers and the poor masses.

More importantly, there is need for a conference of the broad labour movement including trade unions, left activists and socialists to discuss what should be the alternative program to the prevailing capitalist economic program and how to rebuild Labour’s fighting traditions. At such a meeting, we will argue why a socialist alternative is the only program that can guarantee decent life and meet the aspiration of the vast majority of the populace on a permanent basis. This will also mean building of a mass movement to constantly and consistently resist anti-poor capitalist policies and at the same time struggle to take over political power and form a government on the basis of a socialist programme which entails a planning where the needs of the vast majority and society, not the greed of a few as presently obtained, will form the basis of economy and governance.

Right now, we call on workers and trade union activists to agitate and mount organized pressure on the NLC and TUC leaders to immediately declare a 48-hour general strike and nationwide mass protest, as a first step, to demand the reversal of petrol price hike and other anti-poor policies of Tinubu government. If the current labour leaders cannot lead the fight to defend the interest and economic wellbeing of ordinary workers, they should be asked to vacate their positions and be replaced by those who can. At the same time, as has happened before like in 2012, initiatives can be taken to build a movement such as #EndBadGovernance movement, from below aiming to gather a wider echo and active support when the official labour leaders choose to do nothing. Such steps are urgently necessary given the severe crisis the country is in and the growing hunger throughout the land.

Amnesty International Report on #EndBadGovernance protest in August

* YRC calls for the suspension of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to allow for an impartial and independent probe into the reckless assault by the police on the rights to freedom of assembly especially the killing of 24 Protestors

The Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) commends Amnesty International for its detailed and impartial report titled “Bloody August: Nigerian Government’s Violent Crackdown on #EndBadGovernance protests“. This document exposes the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the security operatives during the #EndBadGovernance protests, effectively countering the authorities’ denials of any wrongdoing. The report, which includes field research covering incidents in Kano, Jigawa, Kastina, Niger and Maiduguri, reaffirms our stance that lives were indeed lost during the protests and that these deaths were directly caused by the violent actions of security operatives.

We hereby call for the suspension of the Inspector of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to allow for an impartial, independent and public probe into the conducts of the police and other security forces during the #Endbadgovernance protest in August. We hereby reject the in-house probe ordered by the IGP as an attempt to cover up the issue. As a party indicted by the Amnesty International report, the police cannot be trusted to carry out an impartial probe. To this extent, we call for the setting up of an independent probe panel democratically-constituted by the elected representatives of civil society, professional groups like the media, NBA etc, trade unions and youth associations to investigate the various allegations against the police and other security agencies which includes usage of excessive force, firing of live bullets, killing of peaceful protesters, torture of detainees as well as other heinous crimes as contained in the report of Amnesty International as well as several accounts of protesters and civil society groups.

We are well aware that during the August protests, state-sponsored thugs attacked innocent protesters, such as those in Ojota, Lagos, and other parts of the country, while the police turned a blind eye. They made no attempt to arrest these thugs; instead, they went after peaceful protesters. This shows the disparity in treatment between law-abiding citizens and state-sponsored thugs.

Another clear indication of the government’s partiality and disregard for fundamental human rights —Such as free assembly, free speech, and free press– is its consistent cover-up of thugs and hooligans who violently disrupted peaceful proceedings during the #Endbadgovernance protests nationwide. Journalists and peaceful protesters were also harassed. For example, in Lagos, during the first day of the EndBadGovernance protest, a protester was beaten on the head with a police baton. Similarly, a journalist, Jide Oyekunle, was harassed by the police operatives while covering the protest at eagle square in Abuja while another journalist, a reporter from the Premium Times, was assaulted by police officers in Abuja, alongside other protesters who were injured and arrested. Sadly, this unlawful action of the police was not restricted to Lagos and Abuja as we saw a familiar pattern in other parts of the country where the protest took place.

We find it particularly troubling that the Inspector General of Police continues to carry on as if nothing is amiss despite that men under his command arrested children and tortured, starved and kept them in inhumane conditions, actions that are unacceptable under international law. This cruel treatment of minor is a clear violation of the Child Rights Act, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as several other international instruments to which Nigeria is signatory. As they say, impunity breeds contempt. We have no doubt that it is the failure of President Tinubu to sanction the IGP following the release of the minors that gave the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, the temerity to make the very shocking and highly disparaging statement last week wherein he suggested that the minors should have remained in detention contrary to the democratic norms.

We hereby join Amnesty International and all change seeking Nigerians in calling for immediate action to address these injustices. Specifically, we demand the following:

The prosecution of all police officers and officers of all other security agencies including the DSS and the army responsible for the killings of innocent Nigerians during the protests.
The immediate suspension of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to allow for an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings that occurred during the #EndBadGovernance protests.
The constitution of an impartial and independent panel democratically-constituted by elected representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs), the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), trade unions and other pro-democracy organisations and youth groups to ensure transparency and accountability.
The dismissal of all charges against all peaceful protesters and the immediate release of all those detained nationwide. We also demand a halt to the continued assaults on democratic rights.
Compensation for all victims of the violence and their families to help alleviate the impact of the tragic losses.
The meeting of all demands of the #Endbadgovernance protest in August.

Francis Nwapa

National Secretary, Youth Rights Campaign

Email: yrccampaigns@gmail.com

#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.

#EndBadGovernance Movement, Lagos State Press Statement

Text of a press conference addressed by the #Endbadgovernance movement, Lagos State Chapter, on Wednesday 6 November 2024 at the International Press Centre (IPC), Ogba, to respond to the discontinuation of suit and release of 114 protesters including minors and to call for similar reprieve for all the remaining protesters in detention and on trial nationwide.

A CALL ON PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU TO WITHDRAW CHARGES AGAINST ALL #ENDBADGOVERNANCE PROTESTERS IN DETENTION AND ON TRIAL

Ladies and gentlemen of the press,

We welcome you all to this press conference organized by the #EndbadGovernance Movement Lagos State Chapter. The purpose of the press conference is to respond to the release of 114 detained protesters including minors yesterday Tuesday 5 November 2024 and to demand the dropping of charges against all the remaining protesters in detention and on trial particularly Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others whose trial for treason is scheduled to commence at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday 8 November 2024.

*Presenting the #Endbadgovernance Movement, Lagos State statement*

Without doubt, we received with great relief the news of the release of the 114 protesters including the 32 children whose arraignment last Friday led to a national and global outrage. Mind you however, this development is not a product of President Tinubu’s magnanimity, rather it is a product of fear of the Nigerian people’s anger as well as the local and global outrage the situation generated due to the relentless campaign of groups and organizations who subjected the regime to a blistering criticism.

Left to the despotic Tinubu regime, the children would not be released. This is because the arrest and arraignment of the children for terrorism and treason was an important part of the Tinubu regime’s toolkit of intimidation tactics aimed at striking fear into the heart of the Nigerian populace and anyone who dares to oppose its anti-poor policies. Faced with the kind of mass uprising that erupted during the August protest, the regime needed very seriously to show that no one, not even children, would be spared its wrath. This is the only rational way to understand the fiasco we saw on national television and social media last week Friday when sick and malnourished children were dragged before a court of law to answer to charges of treason.

What changed the situation and caused the regime’s intimidation tactics to boomerang was the determined response of the Nigerian people. By uniting to call out the regime, we were able to force it to retreat and carry out a complete discharge of the protesters who, as at last week, had been locked up for over three months and slammed with grievous charges of treason which carries a death penalty. So, in every way, the release of the children is the first victory in our long-term struggle to rid Nigeria of bad governance and the anti-poor and neo-liberal capitalist policies that have led to unprecedented levels of hunger and hardship for our people.

Sadly, the release of the children cannot atone for the damage already done to them. During the nearly 100 days of their incarceration, the children were subjected to all kinds of ill-treatment including starvation and torture. Their rights as children were not respected in violation of all relevant provisions of the Child Rights Act as well as a host of international conventions protecting the rights of children. Not only were they detained in adult facilities and arraigned without protection for their privacy, the false and trumped-up charges of terrorism and treason leveled against them is likely to haunt them for years to come.

To this extent, we demand public apology by the government and payment of adequate compensation to the children and all detained protesters. We also call for the sack of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) under whose custody the children suffered untold ill-treatment, torture and starvation. We call for an independent probe panel composed of elected representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions and professional groups to investigate the circumstances surrounding the children’s ordeal with a view to identifying government and security officials that are directly responsible for their ill-treatment so they can be appropriately sanctioned.

The protest that erupted between 1^st to 10 August 2024 due to the severe hunger and hardship unleased by President Tinubu’s anti-poor capitalist policies of subsidy removal, fuel price hike and currency devaluation was a desperate cry by Nigerian people for answers to the roaring cost of living crisis. During the protest, about 40 peaceful protesters were killed by the police and other security agents. At least about 2,100 protesters were arrested nationwide out of which hundreds are still in jail and on trial in different parts of the country as at today. For instance, on Monday 4 November 2024, 19 protesters including three minors were arraigned at a Federal High Court in Maiduguri Borno state for terrorism and treason. Similarly, 11 protesters, Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others, are due back at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday 8 November 2024 for the commencement of their trial for treason.

When critically evaluated, the charges against the discharged 114 protesters and Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others are broadly the same. The cases against both batches of protesters are equally ridiculous as the proof of evidence is inadequate to sustain the charges against them. For instance, Adaramoye Michael was arrested only because he happens to go by the nickname “Lenin” which is Russian. Lenin is the name of Vladimir Ilyich, the leader of the Socialist revolution in Russia in October 1917. Being a Socialist and a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Adaramoye Michael Lenin adopted this name as his nickname in line with the tradition in the students and activists movement in Nigeria. Michael has no relationship whatsoever with the Russian dictator, Putin, whose vicious capitalist regime is an antithesis of the aims of the Russian Socialist revolution of 1917.

According to the charge sheets against the 11 defendants, the proof of evidence to sustain the 6 count charge against them are the following: (1) Statement of the defendants, (2) Telephone of the suspects (3) Forensic analysis of the telephones of the suspects and call data (4) Videos CD/DVD of the riot/inciting disturbance (5) Books/Placards, pamphlets recovered (6) Photographs of properties looted and some destroyed (7) CD/DVD/flash drive of government and other properties looted/destroyed (8) Telephone call logs and handsets (9) CAC documents and other documents (10) Any other relevant exhibits.

For a group of defendants who are being tried for grievous offenses ranging from treason to mutiny, and intent to destabilize and levy war against Nigeria, you would have expected that the government would have been able to provide more convincing and incriminating evidence to prove its case like weapons and other indicators. But the truth of the matter is that the charges against the 11 protesters, just as the charges against the 114 including the children, are trumped up and false charges. There is no iota of truth to these charges which the Amnesty International has rightly described as a sham trial.

All the defendants did was to participate in peaceful protests across the country between 1 to 10 August 2024 to demand an end to hunger and hardship. If there was any grain of truth to the allegations, the regime would not have been able to withdraw the charges against the 114 protesters. This is why we are now calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withdraw charges 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 as well as all other peaceful protesters in detention and on trial nationwide. We also call for the meeting of the demands of the August protest especially regarding the reversal of fuel price hike, electricity tariff hike, hike in food prices as well as all anti-poor policies. Without meeting these demands, President Tinubu should continue to expect to see more protests and demonstrations by the Nigerian people.

To drive home our demand for the release of all #Endbadgovernance protesters on trial and in detention, we have declared Friday 8 November 2024, the day the trial of the 11 protesters for treason is scheduled to commence, a day of solidarity. On this day, we are urging the Nigerian people to demonstrate their support for the demand for freedom for all #Endbadgovernance protesters in detention and on trial. On our own part, we are going to hold a peaceful rally on this day. The rally will be held as follows:

DATE: Friday 8 November 2024
TIME: 7am
TAKE-OFF POINT: Ikeja Under Bridge from where we shall march to submit a petition demanding dropping of charges against all protesters on trial and unconditional release of those in detention to the Chief Judge of Lagos state for onward transmission to the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

We can also reliably inform you that the Nigerian Solidarity UK and other groups abroad are also planning a series of solidarity activities including a protest at the Nigerian High Commission in London by 5:30 pm on Friday November 8 2024 to demand the release of all protesters on trial and in detention. Similar actions will take place at the Nigerian embassy in Berlin, Germany. So, in a sense, this is going to be a day of international solidarity to mount pressure on the Tinubu regime to release peaceful protesters and also meet our demands for answers to the cost of living crisis.

In conclusion, be rest assured that we shall not relent in our struggle to end bad governance in Nigeria. Despite the intimidation and repression that we face today, the struggle of the Nigerian people shall be victorious.

Hassan Taiwo Soweto

Osugba Blessing

Oloye Adegboyega-Adeniji

For the Organising Committee, #Endbadgovernance Movement, Lagos State

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.

Protest at Nigerian High Commission in London. Free #EndBadGovernance Protestors

Activists from Nigeria Solidarity, quickly organised a protest at the Nigerian High Commission in London on Monday 9 September in response to the attacks on the workers’ and anti-austerity movements. The protest supported the #EndBadGovernance protesters and the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) by submitting a petition demanding the release of Nigerian Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero, as well as Adaramoye Michael Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq, Daniel Akande, and all those incarcerated in connection with the recent #EndBadGovernance protests.

Joe Ajaero, who was arrested early on the Monday, was released later that day without his passport, after 15 hours of questioning by the secret police over alleged terrorism financing.

Micheal Lenin, who was arrested on Sunday 5 August, now falsely charged alongside others with treason, is the National Coordinator of the YRC. If found guilty, they could face a death sentence, the maximum penalty in Nigeria for treason. The YRC group played crucial roles in the #EndSARs protest four years ago and also in the ten days of protests that rocked Nigeria last month over increasing hunger and hardship.

This demo is part of international solidarity actions planned by the YRC and the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) to rally activists, trade unionists, youth groups and socialists across the world to raise awareness about the repression and budding dictatorship in Nigeria. Its aim is to build sustained pressure on the Nigerian government as Adaramoye Michael Lenin and nine others appear at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday 11 September, for a ruling on their bail application. Similar activities are planned in Nigeria on the day of the court sitting.

Speaking during the demo, I said: “Socialists, working people and youth across the world are inspired by the #EndBadGovernance protests in Nigeria. We extend our solidarity to the working class and youth in Nigeria in their struggle against fuel price hikes, anti-poor economic policies and attacks on democratic rights. We call on President Tinubu to halt the repression and release all those imprisoned now. Only a socialist Nigeria can end the economic crisis facing the country”.

We will continue to raise the issues of the repression in Nigeria within the trade unions, students unions and socialist movement with a view to build more support for the struggle against the horrendous impact on most Nigerians of the government’s neo-liberal policies in Nigeria.

We Say:

Drop ‘treason’ and ‘terrorism’ charges against protest organisers
Defend the right to protest, and free the hundreds detained for protesting
Fight to defend Nigerians from economic and social collapse