End Bad Governance Day 5 of nationwide protest: Russian flag conundrum
By Dailytab24.
Background
President Bola Amed Tinubu’s address intensified the protest in the North. The protestors increased in number and determination was over the roof.
They are angry that the speech of the president they expected would lead to relief failed to address any of their demands. The protestors in reaction to the speech decided to give back in same measure.
The North is in the centre of the protest and they have shown they will see to the end of the protest irrespective of what happens to them along the way.
Thousands of people came out in the North, compared to the number that came out prior to President Tinubu’s address to the country. The protestors are slightly beginning to get fed up with the government’s approach.
Protest in Diaspora, especially in the United Kingdom has been shelved. Lone protestor was seen last week, but nothing much has been seen again.
The state of the United Kingdom is volatile with anti-Muslim and anti-asylum protest rocking the country.
The protest going on in the UK has largely been violent, leading to a quiet outing for the Diaspora ‘End Bad Governance’ protest in the United Kingdom.
The protest in UK began due to spread of fake news after the unfortunate incident that has not yet been categorized a terrorist attack, which involves stabbing to death of girls during a concert in UK.
Far-right camapigners instigated the UK public to mass action on the account that the culprit is a Muslim migrant. The instigation led to violent protest, and coinciding with ‘End Bad Governance’ protest in Nigeria means Diaspora will be weak.
All Diaspora protest usually starts from the UK, due to UK hosts the highest number of Nigerians. Yet, the quiet in UK has not affected the End Bad Governance protest back home. The government has said that the protest is being sponsored by unknown people, but has not mentioned the Diaspora.
Day 5 of the protest got even braver in the northern region of the country. But in the southern part, the protest appears to be losing momentum.
The southern part is represented by Lagos and Rivers. Other states have distanced itself from the protest, and that played well into the hands of the government.
Had the southern region fully participated in the protest, it would have been a different ball game.
Nigerian government is managing the protest the best way they could, with the military playing a remarkable role in ensuring the protestors are not killed in numbers.
In different states, videos of Nigerian army strongly opposing live bullets being used against the protestors have circulated on the internet platforms. Soldiers appear to be more lenient with the protestors than the police.
Protestors Call
The protestors were seen calling on the military to take over power. The appeal to the Nigerian army may have played into their heads and thus showing professionalism and restraints.
The Nigerian army has refused to shoot at the protestors, while police do more of the shooting and get quite rebuked by the soldiers on duty.
The protestors in the North are trying to borrow a leaf from the protestors in Mali and Niger, where the people protest for the expulsion of the West and calling for Russian influence.
While calling for a military take over, the protestors also call for Russian involvement in the politics of the country, like Mali and Niger.
Niger of recent carried out a coup and cut all diplomatic ties with West and turned to Russia. The country blamed the West and its friends of being responsible for the bad fortunes of the country. Mostly, the West is accused of controlling and deciding for Niger, to enable it continue to lift its natural resources.
In Nigeria, the people say that the West with their friends have continued to project neocolonialism, and making life unbearable for them.
The notion is well embraced by many, thus there is a call to end colonial influence. Nigeria was colonized by Britain, and has since been showing undue level of interference in the country’s politics.
For each Nigerian election, United Kingdom calls the candidates to their home for a debate or interview. The debate or interview usually done at Chatham House is aimed to convince UK that a particular candidate will continue to do everything in its favour.
Russian Reaction
The Russian embassy in Nigeria has reacted to the Russian flag being waived by protestors. The embassy categorically stated that they are not part of the agenda being pursued by the protestors. In keeping with a healthy diplomacy, Russia maintained that they won’t interfere in the affairs of a sovereign country and will continue to support peace in Nigeria.
Protest Leader Reacts
Sowore of Saharareporters has also distanced the protestors from the Russian flag conundrum and the drum of military take over. He emphasiszed that the protestors are only calling for policy change in the country and not asking for military take over or Russian interference. The call made by Sowore is crucial and aimed to block the military and police from justifying crackdown on the protest.
Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army leadership has defended democracy in a speech made on the Day 5 of the protest. The army said they are not involved in any call for military take over and will not allow the raising of Russian flag in the country.
The Nigerian Army leadership also said that security agents will quickly be deployed to track down and arrest those waiving Russian flags.
The Nigerian Secret Service has announced the arrest of the tailor financing and sewing the Russian flags seen among northern protestors.
The arrest was swift, but has not stopped the waiving of the flag. Protestors have also been warned to desist from waiving Russian flag. The military said its treason to wave Russian flag in the country.
The Nigerian army is now changing tone to a stricter one compared to what we saw initially. The military leadership conceded that President Bola Amed Tinubu gave them order to stop the waiving of Russian flag and end the call for military take over. It also said that the protest has turned violent and said the army will intervene.
Conclusion
President Bola Amed Tinubu had said during his speech that he would not allow the security agents to kill protestors and promised to bring to the book the officers that fired at the protestors, but his recent directive to the military shows a significant shift from his belief that carrot and stick approach was the better approach by his government.
How the military will act henceforth is yet to be seen, but what is clear is the resolve of the protestors especially in the northern part of the country is unshaken. The protest appears destined to reach the ten days vow made by the protestors.
