The Nigeria Federal Government has described the #RevolutionNow protests held in a different parts of the country yesterday (Wednesday) as irritating.
This was said by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
According to the presidency, the protests were carried out by only a few youths out of the 200 million Nigerians in the country.
He said, “Well, was it really a protest? By my estimation, it just seemed like a child’s play because protests by their very nature are spontaneous things, mass things. These are just a sprinkle of people trying to be funny. As far as I am concerned, it is nothing to worry about.
“A revolution is always a mass thing, not a sprinkle of young boys and girls you saw yesterday in different parts of the country. I think it was just a funny thing to call it a revolution protest.”
Adesina remained adamant when he was asked for the Presidency to talk down on young Nigerians for protesting, he insisted that the protests were nothing but irritation and he had a right to his opinion.
He was then asked if the government determines the seriousness of a protest only by its size, Adesina said, “Well, it will always matter because if you said it was a revolution, revolutions by definition are quite well known.
“Revolution is something that turns the normal order. What happened yesterday, would you call it a revolution? It was just an irritation, just an irritation and some people want to cause irritation in the country and what I will say is when things boil over, they boil over because you continue to heat them.
“When you see pockets of heating up in the country, eventually they culminate in a boiling over. So, Nigerians need to know that the country we get is what we use our hands to build.”
The president’s spokesperson said the reasons for the protests were insecurity, corruption, poverty, and rights abuse, saying that they were not peculiar to Nigeria and so the protests were misguided.
He added that the N-Power programme is one of the ways the government was addressing unemployment in Nigeria, saying that it gives unemployed youths temporary jobs and monthly stipend.
According to Adesina, the President recognized the problems and they cannot be addressed in one fell swoop.
When asked if the clampdown on protests would continue, the Presidency said, “The government will do whatever is right, whatever is required to maintain peace.”
