#June12thProtest: Will it be bloody?

Nigeria’s Democracy Day is a public holiday commemorated on June 12 to mark the restoration of democracy in the country; however, what follows this year’s celebration is a wave of recognized anger boiling among citizens. 

We see the eagerness among citizens who are ready to use the protest to demand an end to the daily surge of unknown gunmen kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, Fulani-herdsmen clash, and all other vices that have raped the country.

No doubt, the Buhari regime has further rotten the political and social structure of the Nigerian framework; a quick glance into the cost of some essential commodities like rice, petrol, garri, onion, beans, fish, among others will prove the state of bitterness citizens are going through. In addition, most Nigerians cannot survive on the current slavery wage they receive from the Nigerian government.

Another shocking sarcasm the Buhari government has given to the youths in the suspension of Twitter over the deletion of his civil war threat tweet. Painfully, the suspension comes in a period when the majority of youths are already making ends means from the platform. We see folks who make their daily bread from promoting other’s works or we should just cap it influencing and others.

While a majority of selfish politicians including former US president, Donald Trump have all joined hands to support the suspension, the bone of contention is will this government lift the ban soonest— the answer to that is NO!

Few hours to writing this article, many June 12 protesters may be beaten, sleeping in cells, receiving the best criminal treatment ever for fighting for what they believe in; we should envisage the worst. The Lekki Massacre has shown to the world the ugliness of the Buhari government and the height of bullshit they can melt on their citizens.

Painfully, key unions like the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS) in the country has shown a pull out a day before the protest. Although, NLC has never shown interest in the protest, the NANS president in a desperate bid to end the crime wave, insist there is nothing worth celebrating as the country continues to be terrorised by the criminal gangs. The union announced their withdrawal from the protest over possible hijack by ‘crazy’ politicians.

Furthermore, the majority of the citizens who took to various social media platforms, including Twitter to express their displeasure about the leadership of Buhari, have hinted that the protest would be held to demonstrate against the ‘dictatorship’ of the president.

A human rights activist Deji Adeyanju @adeyanjudeji said the youths would be protesting on June 12 against insecurity, nepotism, economic woes, among others.

“To the youths planning nationwide protests tagged #june12protest over insecurity, nepotism, bigotry. Unemployment, banditry. economic woes, human rights violations, incompetence, and corruption! How can we all join?,” Adeyanju tweeted.

Another Twitter user who identifies Towolawi Jamiu Endsarsnow @jharmo said the protest was necessary adding that if Nigerians did not resist the Twitter ban, someday, the president could suspend the constitution and introduce martial law.

“When a regime has failed totally, it will result in the use of excessive force. The @MBuhari regime is testing the ground with the #TwitterBan and if not resisted, it will move to suspend the Nigeria constitution and introduce martial law. #June12Protest is a date with history,” Jamiu posted on Twitter.