#EndBadGovernanceProtest: Massive Turnout in Jos as Ex-minister, Cleric Lead Mammoth Crowd of Protesters 

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

A mammoth crowd of protesters led by a former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung, and a frontline cleric and General Overseer of EBOMI Ministries International, Prophet Isa El-Buba, took over the city centre of Jos, the Plateau State capital, to express disenchantment over the bad governance of the administration of President Bola Tinubu which has plucked Nigerians into hunger, suffering and abject poverty.

Speaking to the crowd, which gathered at the Old Airport roundabout, Dalung, who began by chanting some protest songs, warned security operatives not to intimidate any protester because the amended Nigerian constitution gives right to citizens to stage such protest, since it’s peaceful.

Dalung, who served in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, lamented that the sufferings Nigerians are facing have become unbearable as many have died out of hunger.

He said despite warnings and pleas by government and religious organizations for citizens in the state to shun the nationwide protest, the people could not heed such warning in the face of the intolerable hunger killing them and their families. 

“That’s why we are out here on the street; our citizens are dying, nothing is affordable any longer, not even food to eat,” Dalung said.

Also speaking, El-Buba, who led both Christian and Muslim faithful in chanting protest songs in Hausa and English Language, called on President Tinubu to resign if he can’t lead Nigeria. 

He said: “President Bola Tinubu must resign; we cannot wait for 2027 to change him. Hunger will not allow us to endure for that long.”

He said that the mammoth turnout on Thursday was just the beginning of what will be witnessed in the coming days as he was going to mobilize more persons to join the protest.

The cleric said that the economic challenge ordinary Nigerians are currently facing was deliberately meted on the people by government to enslave them in their country, adding that it was unacceptable.

According to him, Nigeria has all it takes to cater adequately for all its citizens, but that government has deliberately decided to enslave the citizens to cause them pain.

He said: “We are going to be here for the next 10 days; if you don’t stand up for your rights, no one will do it for you.”

Insisting that they will not retreat until the demands of the masses for a better living was met, El-Buba said that government was already jittery because it knows that the policies and programmes are anti-people.

Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division Jos, Major General E. A. Abubakar, visited the venue of the protest where he briefed the soldiers and warned them to be on red alert.

The stern-looking soldiers and riot policemen were seen at strategic locations around the city.

However, the protesters, who blocked one lane of the road, have vowed to continue with a higher tempo on Friday. 

They also said that the protest will be taken round the city in the coming days. The Muslim faithful among the protesters observed their afternoon prayers at the venue of the protest.

The protesters cautioned motorists to park their vehicles at home as they will not be allowed to drive through the crowd henceforward.