Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili has sharply criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Sunday’s broadcast addressing the nationwide protests.
In a series of tweets on her X handle, Ezekwesili expressed her profound disappointment with the President’s speech, describing it as “terribly underwhelming” and out of touch with the pressing issues driving the protests.
“As one of millions of Nigerians who were at church when you delivered your late-in-coming speech to citizens on the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria protests, let me loudly say it was terribly underwhelming to read,” Ezekwesili tweeted.
Ezekwesili pointed out that the President’s address failed to resonate with the anger and frustrations of citizens on the streets.
“Your speech reads like a page from your party manifesto and terribly failed to connect to what our citizens on the streets are angry and protesting about,” she said.
She further criticized the President for missing a significant opportunity to placate citizens with practical solutions and evidence-based actions.
“Your speech is quite a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and an outline of convincing evidence-based actions that you and your @NigeriaGov will immediately take to address the priority #BadGovernance concerns,” Ezekwesili noted.
Ezekwesili also condemned what she perceived as a retaliatory tone in the President’s speech, emphasizing that leaders should not view any of their citizens as enemies.
“Your speech was sadly again written out of a mindset that is focused on ‘getting back at our enemies.’ Imaginary enemies at that! No true leader has the luxury of having ‘enemies’ among their citizens. Not at all. A public leader becomes the leader of ALL with a mind that does not think of any as their enemies,” she asserted.
Highlighting the recurrent unwillingness of Nigerian public leaders to accept responsibility, Ezekwesili called for a change in mindset.
“It is nauseating to observe this recurrent innate unwillingness of Nigerian public leaders to admit responsibility for the demands of the same public leadership that they kill and maim citizens to assume,” she remarked.
Ezekwesili urged President Tinubu to take immediate action to halt the violence against peaceful protesters.
“As we remember and pray for families of all our citizens mauled down or maimed for demanding an end to bad governance, let me call on you @officialABAT to immediately instruct the IG @PoliceNG and his men to ‘STOP KILLING PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NOW!'”
She also demanded accountability for the actions of law enforcement personnel.
“Also fish out all law enforcement personnel that have killed and maimed citizens and ensure they are sanctioned as a deterrence to their colleagues,” Ezekwesili demanded.
Ezekwesili’s critique underscores the broader dissatisfaction among citizens with the government’s response to the protests.
Her call for immediate action and accountability reflects the urgent need for the government to address the concerns of the Nigerian people and ensure their safety during peaceful demonstrations.
Her tweet read in full:
“@officialABAT , As one of millions of Nigerians who were at church when you delivered your late-in-coming Speech to Citizens on the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria protests, let me loudly say it was terribly underwhelming to read.
Your Speech reads like a page from your party manifesto and terribly failed to connect to what our Citizens on the Streets are angry and protesting about.
Your speech is quite a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and outline of convincing evidence-based actions that you and your @NigeriaGov will immediately take to address the priority #BadGovernance concerns.
Your Speech was sadly again written out of a mindset that is focused on “getting back at our enemies”. Imaginary enemies at that! No true Leader has the luxury of having “enemies” among their Citizens. Not at all. A Public Leader becomes the Leader of ALL with a mind that does not think of any as their enemies.
This is why it is ever unfortunate to see Nigerian public “Leaders” talk and behave like Losers on matters of public governance where they are expected to rally their ALL Citizens behind the common purpose of nationbuilding.
It is nauseating to observe this recurrent innate unwillingness of Nigerian public leaders to admit responsibility for the demands of the same public leadership that they kill and maim citizens to assume.
@officialABAT , Citizens know when they are being badly governed and from what one can see, Nigerians have now realized that they must collectively speak up and take action otherwise their self-obsessed rulers (and not leaders) will not pay them any heed at all.
As we remember and pray for families of all our citizens mauled down or maimed for demanding an End to Bad Governance, let me call on you @officialABAT to immediately instruct the IG @PoliceNG and his men to “STOP KILLING PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NOW!”
Also fish out all law enforcement personnel that have killed and maimed citizens and ensure they are sanctioned as a deterrence to their colleagues.”