Nationwide Protests: 15 Key Demands Unveiled by Organizers

Organizers of the upcoming ‘Days of Rage’ protests, scheduled from August 1 to August 10, have revealed their key demands for the Nigerian government. These include reinstating the fuel subsidy, addressing power sector issues, and releasing Nnamdi Kanu.

Organizers of the planned nationwide protest, set to occur from August 1 to August 10, have unveiled their key demands from President Bola Tinubu’s government. The announcement comes amidst a worsening economic situation in Nigeria, propelling citizens, particularly the youth, to plan mass protests across the country.

Despite government efforts to quell the movement, the youth are resolute in their decision to proceed with the protests in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Omoyele Sowore, former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and one of the movement’s organizers, forwarded the demands to the media on Wednesday. The protest, titled “Days of Rage” and “#EndBadGovernance,” aims to draw the Federal Government’s attention to Nigeria’s economic plight.

Among their demands, the protesters call for the reinstatement of the fuel subsidy, addressing power sector issues, releasing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from the Department of State Services (DSS) custody, and allowing diaspora voting during general elections.

Sowore highlighted the following demands:

1. Scrap the 1999 Constitution and replace it with a people-made constitution through a sovereign National Conference followed by a National Referendum.
2. Abolish the Senate and make lawmaking a part-time endeavor with only the House of Representatives.
3. Implement a minimum wage of N250,000 monthly for Nigerian workers.
4. Invest heavily in education and provide grants, not loans, to students, alongside aggressive pursuit of free and compulsory education for children across Nigeria.
5. Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarize the South East, also releasing and compensating all ENDSARS and political detainees.
6. Rationalize publicly owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.
7. Reinstate a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation, and multidimensional poverty.
8. Probe past and present Nigerian leaders who have looted the treasury, recover their loot, and deposit it in a special account to fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
9. Restructure Nigeria to accommodate diversity, resource control, decentralization, and regional development.
10. End banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes and reform security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations.
11. Establish a special energy task force to drive massive corruption-free power sector development.
12. Reconstitute the electoral body, INEC, to remove corrupt individuals and partisan hacks appointed to manipulate elections.
13. Massively invest in public works and industrialization to employ Nigeria’s teeming youth.
14. Overhaul the Nigerian judiciary to remove generations of corrupt judges and judicial officers, ensuring real justice.
15. Allow diaspora voting during general elections.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to shelve the planned protest, urging the youth to maintain faith and believe in his administration’s ability to transform Nigeria.