Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela, the Federal Character Commissioner from Oyo State, has appealed to Nigerians to give President Bola Tinubu administration more time before staging a planned hunger protest on August 1st.
Olowofela, a former chairman of Ido Local Government and Oyo State Commissioner for Education, argued that the majority of Nigerians lack the "moral right" to protest against the new administration, which has only been in power for just over a year of its four-year term.
"President Tinubu has just spent one year few days out of four years given by voters which means he has spent less than 30% of his tenure. How can you honestly and justifiably assess a Government who has not spent 50% of it's tenure?" Olowofela wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
The academician pointed to the fiercely contested 2023 presidential election, in which Tinubu emerged victorious, as well as the large number of eligible voters who did not register or participate in the process. Olowofela argued that these individuals "deserved any type of Government, good or bad" since they did not exercise their democratic rights.
Olowofela also stated that the combined vote totals for the PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP candidates - who contested and lost the election - do not give them the "moral right" to protest the current administration. He said they should instead wait until 2027 to re-contest or form a "shadow Government to critic current administration."
Olowofelawrote: "The results of Presidential election of year 2023 was fiercely contested on political and legal turfs. Tinubu ultimately emerged.
"Population of Nigeria as the time of election was estimated to be 223, 804, 632 Million out of which, 111, 902, 316 were eligible to vote.
"However ony 93,469,008 registered with INEC. This implies that 18, 433, 308 eligible Voters did not register.
"Presidential election of 2023 showed
APC (Tinubu) votes scored 8,794,726
"PDP (Atiku) votes scored 6,984,520
"Labour (Obi) votes scored 6, 101, 533
"NNPC (Kwankwaso) votes scored 1,496,687
"Total votes cast (aside few other votes) is 23, 377,466.
"People that are moral bound NOT to protest are as follows
"(I) Unregistered voters that are eligible but did not register - 18,433,308
They didn't care about electoral process, hence they deserved any type of Government. Good or Bad.
"(ii). Registered Voters but did not vote 70, 091, 542.
They deserved any Government Good or Bad.
"(iii) PDP + Labour+ NNPC Voters = 14, 582, 740
"Reason? They contested and lost election. They should wait for 2027 to re contest or form shadow Government to critic current administration.
(iv) The population of Children between ages 1-14years is 41.7 % of the entire population is 93,326,527.791
Children within the age bracket are under the protection of the Nation and their parents. It is morally wrong to use them as canon folder for any protest.
"Nonetheless it is part of Democratic Norms when things are perceived to be wrong in a Nation. Hunger is pervasive in the country. Hence the impeding strike should be seen as clarion call to enable the Government at all levels Federal, States and Local Governments to prioritize policies that will greatly ameliorate hunger from the country. "A hungry man is an angry man", Olowofela wrote.
Acknowledging the widespread hunger in the country, Olowofela appealed to Nigerians to see the impending protest as a "clarion call" for the government at all levels to prioritize policies that will alleviate the situation. However, he urged the "generality of Nigerians to give this current administration more time to address the problems in the land."