President Buhari Ignites Fear In His Citizens With His Speech
PHOTO: BERNARD MENIGAULT/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
President Buhari addressed the Nation for thirteen minutes, reading from a prepared speech filled with subtle threats and warnings to scare his constituents.
First, he warned those who have hijacked the movement; thugs and hoodlums allegedly sent by his government. “I must warn those who have hijacked and misdirected the initial, genuine and well–intended protest of some of our youths in parts of the country, against the excesses of some members of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).”
He stated the law that says protesting is a fundamental human right. “The choice to demonstrate peacefully is a fundamental right of citizens as enshrined in Section 40 of our Constitution and other enactments; but this right to protest also imposes on the demonstrators the responsibility to respect the rights of other citizens, and the necessity to operate within the law.” However, he undermined the meaning of the protests and threatened consequences to citizens if there are ongoing protests afterwards.
He said there is no way to connect the protests and vandalisations to legitimate expression of grievances from the youth. “All these executed in the name of the ENDSARS protests. I am indeed deeply pained that innocent lives have been lost. These tragedies are uncalled for and unnecessary. Certainly, there is no way whatsoever to connect these bad acts to legitimate expression of grievance of the youth of our country.”
He accused the protesters of being pawns used by subversive elements to cause chaos with the aim of destroying democracy, and warned that undermining the law and order of the country by anyone won’t be tolerated. He called on the youths to stop the protests. “In the circumstances, I would like to appeal to protesters to note and take advantage of the various well-thought-out initiatives of this administration designed to make their lives better and more meaningful, and resist the temptation of being used by some subversive elements to cause chaos with the aim of truncating our nascent democracy. For you to do otherwise will amount to undermining national security and the law and order situation. Under no circumstances will this be tolerated.”
“I therefore call on our youths to discontinue the street protests and constructively engage government in finding solutions. Your voice has been heard loud and clear and we are responding.”
Concerning the disbandment of SARS, the Special Anti Robbery Squad, he said we took the prompt disbandment of SARS as a sign of weakness from the government and he said that the government is at work to meet the demands of the protesters, although the youths claim they've seen little or no action. He wants them to take a government which has consistently failed to keep their words on countless occasions, at their word-of-mouth. “As a democratic government, we listened to, and carefully evaluated the five-point demands of the protesters. And, having accepted them, we immediately scrapped SARS, and put measures in place to address the other demands of our youth. On approving the termination of SARS, I already made it clear that it was in line with our commitment to the implementation of extensive Police reforms.”
“Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests.”
He called our documenting on social media fake news that has caused hysteria all over the world and told the international community to stay out if it, stating that they do not have all the facts and so shouldn't rush to judgements or hasty conclusions. He said all these even when it’s been proven multiple times that the Nigerian traditional media spreads a lot of fake news.
He talked about the new salary infrastructure for the police, paramilitary and teachers and paid tribute to the Nigerian police officers that lost their lives. “No Nigerian Government in the past had methodically and seriously approached poverty-alleviation like we have done. With regards to the welfare of police personnel, the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission has been directed to expedite action on the finalisation of the new salary structure of members of the Nigeria Police Force. The emoluments of other paramilitary services are also being reviewed upwards.”
He managed to address one of the 5-for-5 demands from the youths without showing empathy for why they were protesting and what they were protesting against. He just affirmed the police force without admonishing them for all their wrongdoings.
“In order to underscore the importance of education in preparing youths for the future, this administration has come up with a new salary structure and other incentives for our teachers.”
He said peaceful protests are disturbing the peace, and he made no mention of the Lekki Massacre where some protesters lost their lives and many left injured, but prioritises the safety of properties over human beings.