Fresh Protest Rocks Niger after Arrest of 25 Persons in Suleja

•Court gives FG 7 days to fix food prices, petroleum products, others

•Lukman: protests against harsh living condition justifiable 

•Arewa group blames scarcity on saboteurs 

•Group says it’s time to occupy Nigeria, another partners Kano farmers

Chuks Okocha, Alex Enumah, Juliet Akoje in Abuja, Wale Igbintade in Lagos, Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo and Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

Residents of Suleja, Niger State, took to the streets yesterday to register their displeasure over the high cost of living in the country, in a fresh protest to rock the North-central state in one week.

The Niger State Police Command said it had arrested 25 of the protesters, after a similar protest in Minna, the state capital, just two days before.

The fresh protest came as Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the federal government to fix the prices of foodstuff and petroleum products within seven days from yesterday (Wednesday).

In response to the growing discontent among the masses, former National Vice Chairman, North-east of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said the protests by Nigerians against the harsh economic conditions were justifiable.

But a social-political group in the northern part of Nigeria, the Arewa Think Thank (ATT), said food scarcity in the country was the handiwork of “saboteurs” who did not mean well for the administration of Tinubu.

Relatedly, the Osun Civil Societies Coalition, an umbrella body for civil society organisations in Osun State, called on Nigerians to return to the streets to demand a quick end to the economic hardship plaguing the country.

Another non-governmental organisation, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), entered into a partnership with wheat farmers in Kano State, as its contribution to efforts to reduce wheat importation.

Suleja, the commercial nerve centre of Niger State, is a few kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

An eyewitness, Mr. Yazid Abubakar, who spoke to THISDAY, said the protesters stormed the popular Moroko Road, where the biggest market was located in the town. They carried placards with various inscriptions, such as “Leadership is all about improving the life of the masses,” and “Nigerians are suffering, stop the hardship now”.

Some women and youths in their numbers also took to the streets and blocked the Kpagungu axis of Minna-Bida Road in the Niger State capital on Monday, protesting against hunger and the high cost of living.

The women, whose placard also read, “No food, we are dying of hunger”, among others, demanded a better condition of living and reduction in the cost of living for the citizenry.

They accused political officeholders of insensitivity to their plight, lamenting their inability to feed even once a day.

The protest caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road, which is a link road to the South-west part of the country from the North-central.

Niger State Police Command arrested 25 of the protesters.

Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the arrest of one Aisha Jibrin, the initiator of the protest, and 24 other suspects.

The earlier protest in Minna had forced Tinubu to order a food intervention to check the shortage of food in the country.

Court Gives FG 7 Days to Fix Food Prices

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the federal government to fix the prices of foodstuff and petroleum products within seven days Wednesday.

The judge made the order while delivering judgement in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/869/2023, filed by human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), against the Price Control Board and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

The court  ordered the federal government to fix the prices of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles and its  spare parts, matches, motorcycles and its spare parts, motor vehicles and its spare parts as well as petroleum products, which include diesel, petrol motor spirit (PMS) and kerosene.

Falana had approached the court for a declaration that by virtue of Section 4 of the Price Control Act Cap, the defendants were under a legal obligation to fix the prices of those items.

He sought, “A declaration that the failure or refusal of the defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene is illegal as it offends the provision of Section 4 of the Price Control Act, Cap, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

“An order directing the defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene not later than seven days after the delivery of the Judgment of this Honourable court.”

At the hearing of the suit, the plaintiff, Falana, informed the court that the motion on notice was premised on Section 4 (1) of the Price Control Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. He also told the court that the defendants in the suit had been served with the processes since it was filed in May 2023, but they refused and failed to file any response or counter to it.

Consequently, Falana urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought for since there was no opposition from the respondents.

Lewis-Allagoa, after hearing from the senior lawyer and going through the court processes, observed that the defendants did not file any counter to the suit. He cited some legal authorities, and held, “All the reliefs contained in the motion paper are hereby granted as prayed.”

Lukman: Protesting for Survival Justifiable

Former National Vice Chairman, North-east, All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said the protests against the harsh economic conditions were justifiable.

Lukman urged Tinubu not to submit to the temptation of criminalising the legitimate grievances of Nigerians protesting against harsh living and economic conditions.

The party chieftain, in a statement titled, “Renewed Hope Exchanging for Renewed Anger,” said the protest called for urgent response by the government.

He stressed that no one should be deceived because the protest in Minna and Kano were justifiable protests, saying Tinubu may wish to ignore them at his own peril.

Lukman said to suggest that any opposition party could mobilise citizens to protest against the government was defeatist. He was of the opinion that such a response must, as a matter of necessity, address existing reality whereby prices of goods and services, especially food items, were astronomically going up, almost on hourly basis.

Lukman lamented that there were gory tales of Nigerians going to the same markets within short intervals, sometimes less than 24 hours, and encountering higher prices for the same quantity of products.

He stressed that those were predictable realities triggered by conscious decisions taken by the government of Tinubu.

Arewa Group Blames Scarcity on Saboteurs

A group, Arewa Think Thank (ATT), said the food scarcity in the country was the handiwork of “saboteurs”, who did not mean well for the Tinubu administration.

The group, in a statement yesterday, alleged that economic saboteurs were mopping up food “to embarrass the administration of Tinubu”.

ATT called on the president to investigate the issue with a view to bringing the saboteurs to book.

In the statement by its Convener, Mr Muhammad Yakubu, the group also called on Tinubu to query the 36 governors over the food items the federal government gave them recently to share to the masses.

It stated, “In the last six months, the 36 governors received N3.4 trillion. This is just their federal allocation, IGR not inclusive, what did they do with it? Rice and other food items given to them to share to the masses, where are they.

“We believe that the ongoing food scarcity is artificial because Nigeria is economically far much better than where it was on May 29, 2023. We can see that economic saboteurs are at clandestine work to frustrate and embarrass the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“We are calling on President Tinubu to deal decisively with the enemies of progress against his government, fight corrupt people to a standstill by bringing them to justice. There should be no sacred cow in the fight against corruption.”

It’s Time To Occupy Nigeria, Says OCSC

Osun Civil Societies Coalition, an umbrella body for civil society organisations in Osun State, called on Nigerians to return to the streets to demand a quick end to the economic hardship plaguing the country.

In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Comrade Waheed Lawal, and Secretary, Emmanuel Olowu, OCSC said it was time to revisit the 2012 Occupy Nigeria struggle, where Nigerians trooped out massively to call for the reversal of fuel subsidy removal.

The statement said the struggle was also needed to seek urgent solutions to the skyrocketing prices of food items, and the removal of fuel subsidy, among others.

The statement read, “There is a need to revisit the 2012 Occupy Nigeria Struggle. The ongoing economic hardship and total disregard for the plight of Nigerians by the federal government has made it necessary for Nigerians to rise and speak in one voice against the worsening economic situation.

“As we have been saying, any economic reform that will stifle the life out of Nigerians is satanic and should be rejected. We have for the past eight months exercised patience, hoping that the FG would take practical steps to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.

“We had thought the gains of the removal of fuel subsidy would rub off the pains. Alas! We are wrong. What we have discovered is that the government has taken away money from the poor and given it to government officials.

“There is no economic sense in removing the subsidy on petroleum products, devaluating the Naira, and raising tax and electricity tariffs at the same time. The supposed economic reform has brought pain, agony, and uncertainty to Nigerian homes.”

OCSC added, “One does not need to be an economist to know that increment in fuel and tax will cripple local businesses and reduce productivity. It is an open fact that the devaluation of the naira and the rising double-digit inflation rate have reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians; leading to paying more to buy little.”

NGO Partners Kano Farmers to Boost Wheat Production

A non-governmental organisation, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) went into partnership with wheat farmers in Kano, as part of efforts to limit wheat importation.

Head of TAAT, Mr Solomon Gizaw, disclosed the initiative during an inspection tour of some wheat farms yesterday in Kano.

Gizaw said Nigeria had all it would take to produce and feed itself, and the rest of Africa, if farmers could get the right policy support, technology, and the right market link to the processors.

Gizaw said, “In Nigeria, we are seeing a great opportunity for Nigeria to be self-sufficient in wheat farming in the coming few years. Nigeria today produces only five percent of the wheat consumed, and imports the remaining 95 percent from foreign countries worth over five billion dollars.

“We, in Africa, have the technology, land, water, and the people. If we come together and work together, Nigeria can feed itself and the rest of the African countries. In Africa today, we have several high-yielding wheat varieties that are giving a high yield of six to seven tonnes hectares.

“But today in Nigeria, the wheat production is not exceeding two to three per hectare. You can imagine. With one farmland, we can increase the productivity by two to three folds. So, the African Development Bank is working with the Nigerian government to expand wheat. And the government has committed to take these varieties.”

Speaking during the tour, one of the large-scale wheat-growers and processors in Kano State, Alhaji Mannir Dan’agundi, called for consistency in government policies to boost agricultural production in the country.

He said, “It is about commitment. It is about the consistency of the policy. Once we do that and we are committed, Nigeria has the land, the water, and the people to do what it is supposed to do.

“And with our population of over 200 million people, it is imperative for us to ensure that we have something with which we can even feed ourselves. So, I am very much hopeful with what the government is doing, and I think we need to do more.”