There’s likelihood of more protests, northern coalition tells Buhari

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) says with the growing anger among Nigerians, there is a likelihood of more protests in the country.

The coalition said this in reaction to the #RevolutionNow protests that took place on Monday.

After the not too successful protest, following the massive deployment of security agencies, the presidency had said Nigerians ignored the call of the protesters for a “phantom revolution.”

But in a statement on Wednesday, Abdul-Azeez Sulieman, spokesman of CNG, said instead of thanking Nigerians for not joining the protests, President Muhammadu Buhari should apologise to the country.

Suleiman said Buhari “should own up to his inadequacies and take genuine steps to address the mounting national grievances.”

“We submit that instead of just sitting back to thank Nigerians for not joining the overthrow plan, President Buhari should rather sincerely apologize to the nation by reflecting on how he dragged the country into such a desperate situation, own up to his inadequacies and take genuine steps to address the mounting national grievances,” he said.

“Unless this is done, with the growing angry mood that pervades the entire country, the likelihood of a more serious dissent remains imminent.”

The spokesman also accused the likes of Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos, of supporting #RevolutionNow.

“We also wish to ask the president if in all honesty he still considers the South Western players as  true friends who are genuinely desirous of his success,” he said.

“He should ask himself if the treatment he is receiving from them is worth the attention he had given the South West which involved colliding with his northern brethren to the point of elevating the status of June 12 as appeasement.

“In particular, such individual beneficiaries of the government as Bola Tinubu, Fashola, Fayemi, Aregbesola, and others largely from the South West were nowhere to be seen when their people and the southern-based media ignited tensions over the government’s Ruga initiative.”