Nigerian Gen Z Plans Protests for Better Governance Inspired By Kenyan Youth Movement

11 July 2024
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Hyrance Mwita

Nairobi — Nigerian Gen Z youths are organizing protests next month to demand better governance from the ruling administration.

Inspired by the recent protests in Kenya, which led to President William Ruto declining to sign the Finance Bill 2024 and implementing significant government reforms, Nigerian youths have taken to social media to call for change in their own country.

Scheduled to take place from August 1 to 10, the protests are being promoted with hashtags such as #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria and #EndBadGovernance2024. The organizers aim to hold President Bola Tinubu's government accountable for economic mismanagement and other issues.

A poster circulating on social media instructs participants to gather at local government assemblies, House representative residences, governors' offices, and the National Assembly in Abuja. Protesters are encouraged to carry placards, handkerchiefs, bottles of water, white cloths or ribbons, and the Nigerian flag, and to dress in white and black.

"For those around Enugu, Lagos, Kano, PH, Abuja, and Kaduna, block all roads leading to the city and airport on Day 1," the poster states.

The poster outlines 12 demands, including addressing alleged anti-people policies, reducing over-taxation, and implementing electoral reforms. Specific demands include establishing an emergency fund to support SMEs, disclosing and reducing the salaries of senators and House of Representatives members, ending what they term as the "scam" of subsidies, and lowering fuel prices to below 300 Naira per litre.

Additionally, they call for the reintroduction of subsidies on education to lower tertiary education fees, the restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the return of import duties to previous rates. Reforms in the Judiciary, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are also demanded.

The protesters want INEC to be made independent with transparent processes for appointing its chairman and to enact a law mandating the electronic transmission of live electoral results. They also seek a declaration of a state of emergency on inflation and the reopening of national borders.

These planned demonstrations mirror the recent anti-Finance Bill protests in Kenya, which saw youthful Kenyans, dubbed Gen Z, pressuring the government to withdraw proposed new taxes deemed punitive. The protests resulted in over 40 deaths, more than 300 injuries, and the destruction of property worth millions of shillings, reportedly due to infiltrations by goons.

Following the protests, President William Ruto refused to sign the Finance Bill into law and, on June 26, sent it back to Parliament, asking MPs to delete all contentious clauses.

But the youths are not relenting, often pouring to the streets to chant "Ruto Must Go"

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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