From Moshood Karim
On Monday, commercial activities in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, were temporarily halted due to a protest by the Edo Civil Society Organizations (EDOCSO).
The group was calling on President Bola Tinubu to address the issue of economic hardship in Nigeria, which has led to widespread hunger and suffering.
The protesters, who marched from Ring Road to Akpakpava Road and other busy roads in the City centre, brandished placards with various inscriptions, including “Nigerians are starving to death,” “Tinubu, end hunger and suffering in Nigeria,” “FG, end the hunger in Nigeria now,” “Tinubu, let Nigerians breathe,” and others.
The EDOCSO had earlier given President Bola Tinubu and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, a 14-day ultimatum to either quit power or fix the Nigerian economy. The ultimatum expired on Tuesday, and the group took to the streets to demand action.
Addressing newsmen at the venue of the protest, Leftist Austine Enabulele, the Interim TEC Chairman, said that the group had given President Tinubu ample time to address the issue of hunger in the country but that nothing had been done. He stated that the Nigerian people were suffering and that urgent action was required to address the situation.
“If you remember on the 10 of February, we did hold a press briefing and gave the federal government two weeks to fix the problems of Nigeria, to fix the suffering and hunger in Nigeria.
“That two weeks have long expired and nothing has been done. So we have come out today to tell president Bola Tinubu to fix the hunger and suffering in Nigeria, that enough is enough.
“We cannot take the pains anymore. Enough of the hunger, enough of the hardship, enough of bad governance in Nigeria.
“If he can’t fix the problems of Nigeria, he should resign quickly with his voice president, Shettima and let us conduct a fresh election because Nigerians are dying everyday, children are now becoming orphans because their fathers are dying because of the hardship in Nigeria.
“We are saying enough is enough. If he can’t fix the problems of Nigeria, he should resign and go”.
“He should give value to our naira because Nigerians do not use dollars.
“We can not be living our lives in dollars. You want to buy something in the market they will tell you that, dollars have increased, you want to buy common pumpkin leaves, they will say dollars have increased.
“We are using naira and they must give value to our naira. If he can’t fix the problems, he should resign.”
The protest led to a temporary halt in commercial activities in the city, with many shops and businesses closing their doors in solidarity with the protesters. The EDOCSO has vowed to continue its protests until the Nigerian government takes concrete steps to address the economic hardship and hunger in the country.
