National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday intervened in the ongoing #EndSARS protests, urging the protesters to calm down and end the demonstrations that have paralysed socio-economic activities in Abuja, Benin, Lagos among other capital cities in the country.
Tinubu who took to Twitter this midnight released a long thread of tweets giving reasons why Nigerian youths must end the ongoing protest.
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According to him, the protest is good for democracy but the youths who are exercising this protest should also realize that all their demands cannot be implemented magically as the government needs time to implement them.
He further stated that riots and disturbance of other Nigerians going about their daily business should also be considered. He urged the youths to end the protests since President Muhammadu Buhari has acted with commendable dispatch by not only scrapping the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) but also accepting the five-point demand that triggered the protests.
He said: “For instance, it is unfortunate that hoodlums, thugs and assorted criminals have seized on the protests to perpetrate violence, disrupt civil life and harass, intimidate and assault innocent persons going about their lawful business.
“The intent of the organisers of the protests is to achieve stated objectives on police reform, which the government has in principle accepted. It can certainly not be their motive to cause generalised anarchy or effect regime change.
“If they give the impression that that is their goal, then any government will necessarily have to act with the requisite decisiveness and force to restore law and order and preserve constitutional rule.” Tinubu added that the vigour and vibrancy of the protests were an indication of the growing strength of the democratic culture in Nigeria.
Tinubu urged the protesters to be careful not to set the stage for the erosion or destruction of the same democratic process that gives them the freedom and right to protest in the first place.
Going on furhter praised religious leaders for what he called their sense of patriotism and urged them to prevail on their teeming followers to call off the protests for now and give peace a chance.
Saying the protests have forcefully demonstrated the reality and potency of people’s power, he pleaded that the new energy must be tapped and channeled to strengthen, not weaken the country’s democracy.
“Surely, the country cannot remain the same after this,” Tinubu said, adding: “The government has demonstrated its sensitivity to the demands of the youth and must now be supported to implement the reforms it has committed itself to.”
1. For the past twelve days, our country has witnessed massive protests by youths in different cities, which were ignited by widespread disenchantment with the gross human rights abuses including torture, extortion, harassment…
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
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3. …“to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign”. Justice as one of our greatest writers has memorably noted is “the first condition of humanity”.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
5. …– ‘solitary, poor, nasty and brutish’ is not one fit for free and decent people to live in. Such impunity and lawlessness are incompatible with the values and tenets of a democratic society governed by the supremacy of the rule of law.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
8. It was through this process that colonialism, apartheid, and all forms of dictatorship, misrule and tyranny have been overcome across time and space. Our current democratic dispensation was borne of struggle in response to the challenge of military dictatorship.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
10. The protesters must admit that the President Buhari administration has acted with commendable dispatch by not only scrapping SARS but also accepting the five-point demand that triggered the protests. This shows a laudable sensitivity to the grievances of the youths.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
12. If government had not implemented promised reforms in the past, the swiftness with which it has responded to the demands of the protesters this time around shows that that there is a positive change by government both of attitude and of a new sense of urgency.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
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14. …thugs and assorted criminals have seized on the protests to perpetrate violence, disrupt civil life and harass, intimidate and assault innocent persons going about their lawful business.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
16. If they give the impression that that is their goal, then any government will necessarily have to act with the requisite decisiveness and force to restore law and order and preserve constitutional rule.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
18. However, the protesters must be careful not to set the stage for the erosion or destruction of the same democratic process that gives them the freedom and right to protest in the first place.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
20. The fight for police reforms is surely to promote and protect the wellbeing of millions of Nigerians. It is a contradiction for the protesters to act in ways that will further worsen the economic well being of the very people they are fighting for.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
22. It is a good sign that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos and a number of other state governments have speedily set up judicial panels of inquiry into acts of police brutality over the years. I urge the state governments which are yet to do so to emulate this example.
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
24. Finally, I also strongly appeal to the protesters – YOU HAVE MADE YOUR POINT. GOVERNMENT HAS MADE ITS COMMITMENT TO YOU. PLEASE, PLEASE AND PLEASE, CALL OFF THE PROTESTS. GIVE GOVERNMENT A CHANCE TO IMPLEMENT YOUR DEMANDS. GOD BLESS YOU. @jidesanwoolu @ekometa @tunderahmanu
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@AsiwajuTinubu) October 19, 2020
, Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday intervened in the ongoing #EndSARS protests, urging the protesters to){kind=link}