The Scene
KANO, Nigeria — In this northern city, the second most populous in Nigeria, protesters have been converging at the city center and making their way to Government House, seat of the state governor.
Thousands of protesters, decrying rampant inflation, chanting anti-hardship songs, and carrying placards with strident messages for the government of President Bola Tinubu, are calling for the return of a popular fuel subsidy whose removal is seen as a key trigger for rising prices.
While protests are not unusual in Nigeria, it’s less common in the predominantly Muslim north outside of university campuses. Now this level of the protests and sheer numbers of protesters in the big cities of northern Nigeria have caught onlookers, participants, and authorities off guard.
The protests have been passionate and persistent, and the response by security forces has been deadly. Even though the “End bad governance” protests have been nationwide, the 13 people killed as of Saturday Aug. 3 were in three northern states, according to Amnesty International. Police said seven of those people were killed in an explosion rather than in clashes with security forces. The government claims that the peaceful protests have been infiltrated by thugs who broke into stores to loot food items and other valuables.
Curfews have been imposed in Kano and other northern states including Jigawa, Katsina and Borno. One of the protest coordinators in Kano, Abba Bello Abba of the Nigerian Patriotic Front, said “we will continue with the protest once the curfew is lifted, we will continue to do this until our demands are met”.
While most protesters were raising placards and Nigerian flags, there was a smattering of other protesters spotted waving Russian flags and chanting “Putin!” in support of the Russian leader.
In this article:
Know More
Northern Nigeria, especially the northwest and the northeast, has suffered from insecurity with attacks on civilians and kidnappings, which have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. That’s exacerbated long-standing challenges with poverty and unemployment in a vast area that makes up more than half the country.
It means efforts by the government to push through difficult policies such as the fuel subsidy removal and allowing the naira to float freely, while causing economic pain for almost all ordinary Nigerians, have been particularly harsh for those in the north of Nigeria.
People of all ages have taken part in the mostly peaceful protests. Binta Adamu Sheshe, 70, said: “I am forced to join the protest as I have nothing to eat as I speak to you now, my earning a month is 20,000 naira ($12) as a casual staff in a hospital, what will do that for me in this hardship, we need to have fuel subsidy returned.”
The View From Aso Rock
On Sunday morning, President Tinubu made his first public statements since the protests began, calling on Nigerians to suspend the widespread protests. He suggested that the protests had been politically motivated but acknowledged that ordinary citizens were going through a tough time. “I am especially pained by the loss of lives in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna and other states, the destruction of public facilities in some states, and the wanton looting of supermarkets and shops, contrary to the promise of protest organizers that the protest would be peaceful across the country.”
Tinubu, who touted some of his administration’s achievements to help turn things around such as creating jobs, said he had heard the protesters “loud and clear”, and that he understood the pain and frustration behind their actions. “But we must not let violence and destruction tear our nation apart.”