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Banners with captions such as “We will no longer be quiet” have been raised as Nigerians this morning took to streets across the country in a campaign for good leadership dubbed #iStandWithNigeria, #OneVoiceNigeria and #EnoughIsEnough protests.
The protests, which have been met by twists and turns as Innocent Idibia popularly known by his fans as 2face Idibia and others pulled out, is presently on going in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Lagos state and other major cities of the country.
TheNewsGuru reporters present at the venues of the protests have said the protests have been peaceful so far, with the heavy presence of security personnel at all the venues of the protests.
“I will no longer be quiet,” “Every child must have access to quality education,” “All Nigerian lives must matter,” “This march is for the unrepresented Nigerians,” “Unemployed people are hungry and angry” and “There is enough in Nigeria for all of us to ‘Chop Belleful’” are some of the inscriptions on banners protesters are wield.
Protesters also took the #iStandWithNigeria protest to the office of the National Lottery Regulation Commission (NLRC) demanding the immediate payment of lottery winners. One of the banners to that regard reads “This is now 3 years since Nigeria centenary lottery has been drawn, National Lottery Regulation Commission (NLRC) says recession is the reason for non-payment of winners”.
The politics of the nation have been divided along ethno-religious line with Boko Haram terrorists maiming and killing predominantly Christian population in the northern part of the country. “It is not a ‘my religion or tribe is better than yours’ matter. All our blood is red,” the banner of one protester read.
“People die daily from lack of basic, affordable health care” and “The best way to stop corruption is to increase transparency” are other inscriptions on display.
Meanwhile, One Voice Nigeria has listed some other reasons for the protests. One Voice Nigeria said that before, a 12.5kg of gas used to be 2,500 naira but now goes for 5,300 naira. They said kerosene, which the poor masses use for daily cooking and lighting, which sells for 100 naira per litre now sells for 500 naira per litre.
The protesters say a bag of rice which used to be 8,000 naira previously has remained high at 23,000 naira.
Other commodities, which prices have increased astronomically, the protesters listed to be affecting the masses are premium motor spirit, diesel, semovita, guinea corn, cement, roofing sheet, dollar, printing paper, pen, tyre, beans, flour, palm oil, peak milk and garri.
Even the prices of kulikuli, Indomie noodles and sugar were not left out.
Although the Nigerian government recently set up a ‘food taskforce;’ it has not stopped the protesters from hitting the streets.
“We are here, we are marching forward, we are taking over our future,” one protester said.