Last week, news of an impending nationwide mass protest by Nigerian youths made the rounds.

According to the planners, the August 1 rally is aimed at expressing their displeasure over untold hardship, high cost of living, food scarcity, hunger, unemployment and bad governance in the country.

Reacting to news of the planned protest on Thursday, members of the Federal House of Representatives agreed to donate 50 percent of their salaries to the federal government for a period of six months. This, the members said, was their own way of helping the government address the country’s harsh economic situation.

However, Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, has, via his official X account, described calls for the nationwide protests under the hashtags #TinubuMustGo and #Revolution2024 as treasonable.

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Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, as the national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and his supporters led an #OccupyNigeria campaign against then-president Goodluck Jonathan for deciding to remove oil subsidies in 2012.

OCCUPY NIGERIA 2012

#OccupyNigeria was an anti-subsidy removal campaign, which was later propagated to unseat Jonathan and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It was also one of the corridors through which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was installed.

Reacting to the decision to remove subsidies then, Tinubu, while entertaining questions from journalists, accused the Jonathan presidency of betraying its social contract with the people by suddenly removing fuel subsidies.

The APC and their supporters were part of spontaneous protests across the country.

N65 OR NOTHING!

Bashir Ahmad, who would become the digital media aide to Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past president, also wrote, “N65 or nothing.”

Ahmad was a front-runner of the #OccupyNigeria protest in Kano State and on social media. He agitated not just against the removal of fuel subsidies but also openly expressed his desire to remove Jonathan and his government.

Petrol moved to N185 per litre, more than double his N65 baseline, when he served in the Buhari government.

Defending the current administration on Saturday, Bashir wrote: “President Bola Tinubu and his administration have demonstrated a strong commitment to resolving the current economic hardship, particularly the food crisis that has put a strain on households across the nation. One of the critical measures being implemented was to complement local food production and provide immediate relief; the President ordered the temporary opening of our borders.”

“For the next 90 days, food products can be imported to the country without the burden of taxes. The initiative will definitely help to increase the availability of essential food items and ease the pressure on our local markets.”

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‘HE WHO SOWS A STORM WILL REAP THE WHIRLWIND’

“He who sows a storm will reap the whirlwind. And so let it be for Mr. Goodluck Jonathan and his cabinet. Amen.”

That was an X message posted by Bayo Onanuga on January 3, 2012. The presidential aide made the post as the nationwide protest entered its second day.

The tweet means there are consequences for every decision. This means that Onanuga was in support of the nationwide protest.

Twelve years down the line, however, Onanuga has chosen to kick against an impending protest against the government under which he serves. He has also claimed that Pat Utomi, a Nigerian professor of political economy, is one of the brains behind the planned nationwide protests.

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He went on to describe the calls for protests as “clarion calls for treason”.

Utomi, who has been in the US for months, denied any involvement in the planned protest. He has also challenged the presidential aide for evidence of his involvement.