Tambuwal: #EndSARS protests a wake-up call to Nigeria’s leaders

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state, says the protests against police brutality are a wake-up call to the country’s leaders.

Speaking at the inauguration of a project on Thursday in Sokoto, Tambuwal said citizens are ready “to start pushing back”.

For more than a week, some Nigerians across the country took to the streets to call for reforms in the police.

Represented by Akibu Dalhatu, special assistant on small and medium scale enterprises, the governor said posterity will judge their inactions and actions if they fail to speak up against the ills in the country.

“In our country today, we are faced with banditry, rape cases, corruption, mismanagement of funds, nepotism, insurgency, and so many issues that threaten the unity of this country, NAN quoted him as saying.

“Posterity will not fail to judge us all for our actions and inactions if we do not speak; it is we the people that will change Nigeria.

“The recent #EndSARS protests that rocked across the country and even beyond is a wake-up call to our leaders. The fact that they have pushed us so much to the wall shows that Nigerians are ready to start pushing back.”

The governor said the people must be part of the budget-making process.

“We must adopt the participatory approach to budget making; before the budget office of the presidency, the ministry of finance and budget planning finalise any budget, they must organise town hall meetings. This will gather the inputs of the people and determine priority areas,” Tambuwal said.

“If the people participate in the budget-making process, they will also follow how the appropriated money is being spent and by this they will demand transparency and accountability from government officials.

“The people’s engagement in these processes strengthens and deepens democracy, and this ensures that the process of the rule of law is followed.”