Adibe Emenyonu in Benin -City
Commercial activities were grounded to a halt in Benin-City, the Edo State capital Monday, following a protest by the Edo Civil Society Organisations (EDOCSO), calling on President Bola Tinubu to address the economic hardship in Nigeria or resign.
The group, which took their protest march from the Ring Road down to the Akpakpava Road and other busy roads in the capital city centre, brandished placards with various inscriptions like ‘Nigerians are starving to death’, ‘Tinubu, end hunger and suffering in Nigeria’, ‘FG end the hunger in Nigeria now’, ‘Tinubu, let Nigerians breathe,’ among others.
The group had earlier given President Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima 14 days ultimatum to quit power or fix the Nigerian economy.
The group made the call in a communiqué signed by its Interim Chairman, Leftist Austine Enabulele, and made available to newsmen in Benin.
Addressing newsmen during the protest, Enabulele said the 14-day ultimatum given to President Tinubu to fix the Nigerian economy had since elapsed and nothing had been done to address the hunger in the country.
“If you remember on the 10 of February, we did hold a press briefing and gave the Federal Government two weeks to fix the problems of Nigeria, to fix the suffering and hunger in Nigeria.
“That two weeks have long expired and nothing has been done. So we have come out today to tell President Bola Tinubu to fix the hunger and suffering in Nigeria, that enough is enough.
“We cannot take the pains anymore. Enough of the hunger, enough of the hardship, enough of bad governance in Nigeria.
“If he can’t fix the problems of Nigeria, he should resign quickly with Vice-President Shettima and let us conduct a fresh election because Nigerians are dying everyday. Children are now becoming orphans because their fathers are dying because of the hardship in Nigeria.
“We are saying enough is enough. If he can’t fix the problems of Nigeria, he should resign and go,” Enabulele said.
He also decried the dollarization of the Nigerian economy, saying that Nigerians should use their currency which is naira.
“President Tinubu should give value to our naira because Nigerians do not use dollars.
“We can not be living our lives in dollars. You want to buy something in the market they will tell you that dollars have increased; you want to buy common pumpkin leaves, they will say dollars have increased.
“We are using naira and they must give value to our naira. If he can’t fix the problems, he should resign,” Enabulele insisted.
