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Soyinka, Protesters Lambast Tinubu for Ignoring Police Brutality in Address

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By David Torough, Abuja

Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday criticised President Bola Tinubu saying the president’s nationwide address failed to address the attacks on #EndBadGovernance protesters by security agencies.

Reports across the country indicate that at least 21 people lost their lives but Tinubu said the protesters had a political agenda and were out to undermine his government.

Many Nigerians had called on Tinubu to douse tension by addressing the country.

The president, in a 38-paragraph speech yesterday did not dwell on the 12 demands of citizens.

Rather, he reeled out his achievements in office and warned that government would deal with mischief makers.

Soyinka reacted to the speech in a statement saying, “I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation.

“His outline of government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis.

“My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.

“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals. 

“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest.

“Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S., not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.

“They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation.

“The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed ENDSARS protests.

“It evokes pre-independence – that is, colonial – acts of disdain, a passage that induced the late stage pioneer Hubert Ogunde’s folk opera Bread and Bullets, earning that nationalist serial persecution and proscription by the colonial government.

“Security agencies cannot pretend unawareness of alternative models for emulation, civilized advances in security intervention.

“Need we recall the nationwide 2022/23 editions of what is generally known as the Yellow Vest movement in France?

“Perhaps it is time to make such scenarios compulsory viewing in policing curriculum. In all of the coverage that I watched, I did not catch one single instance of a gun leveled at protesters, much less fired at them even during direct physical confrontations.

“The serving of bullets where bread is pleaded is ominous retrogression, and we know what that eventually proves – a prelude to far more desperate upheavals, not excluding revolutions.”

Soyinka who visited Tinubu in December appeared to have become an ally of government.

“I came to see him to find out how he is doing after neglecting my advice. I wanted to see how he and his wife are faring. I also came to wish them a merry Christmas,” he said after seeing Tinubu in the State House, Abuja.

Similarly, organisers of the #Endbadgovernance protest in Osun State said Tinubu did not address any of their concerns.

Speaking on Day 4 of the protest at Freedom Park in Osogbo yesterday, the Coordinator, Coalition of Concern Nigeria Citizens, Adetunji said the group would meet to discuss the way forward as the president did not address any of their concerns.

He said, “Our protest is not a one-man show, especially as Osun’s case is concerned. Regarding the President Bola Tinubu’s address this morning, he did not address any of our concerns.

“The president was not specific on what the government will do to address the demands of the youth. The president’s call for dialogue is an open-end appeal, which does not have a clear indicator on what will be done.”

Also, Comrade Emmanuel Olowu, Secretary, Osun Coalition of Civil Societies, which is also part of the protest said the president’s appeal for end and embrace dialogue would be discussed at a meeting of the various groups.

It is a movement for Nigerians which we are leading but the people would eventually decide in which direction the protest would move going forward,” he said.

The #EndBadGovernance protest continues today.

NEWS

Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths

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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.

This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.
57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)

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APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads

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The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.

He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka.
Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora.
”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NAN

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Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar

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The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.
(Xinhua/NAN)

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