Young people in Osun State have organized a peaceful demonstration to express their dissatisfaction with the soaring prices of goods and services, as well as the increasing cost of living in the nation.
Led by leaders of civil society organizations in the state, the youth gathered in Osogbo on Friday to demand immediate intervention from the federal and state governments and other stakeholders to prevent the country from sliding into further crisis.
Despite the heavy presence of police officers near the protest site, the demonstrators congregated along MDS Road, Osogbo, early on Friday morning.
Addressing the protesters, who carried placards bearing various messages such as ‘Revise Unfavorable Policies’, ‘Nigerians are Suffering, We Can’t Endure Anymore’, and ‘Respect Our Rights as Citizens’, among others, Waheed Lawal, the chairman of the Osun Civil Societies Coalition, declared that the protest would persist until the federal government devises solutions to the ongoing economic hardship plaguing the nation.
Lawal emphasized, “The government must alleviate the people’s suffering. They must take necessary actions to ensure that citizens live in better conditions. Nigerians deserve better. We were promised a new beginning, but what we are experiencing now is renewed adversity. We reject this renewed hardship in our lives and economy because Nigerians deserve better.”
He continued, “What Nigerians desire is peace. We no longer want insecurity in our land. Traveling from Osogbo to Ibadan is fraught with anxiety. The spate of monarch abductions in our country is alarming. We urge the government to provide security for the lives and property of citizens, as it is their constitutional duty.”
“Any government that fails to safeguard the lives of its citizens ceases to be a government. Our message is clear: we are prepared to confront the government over this hardship, and we are in it for the long haul. Today marks the beginning of our struggle, and if the government ignores us, we will continue to mobilize our people to protest against this hardship because enough is enough.”
It is worth noting that the Osun State Police Command, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, cautioned against any attempts to hijack peaceful protests in the state. Opalola stated that the police had received intelligence indicating that some criminal elements aimed to exploit any peaceful protests to incite chaos in the state.