By JESUTEGA ONOKPASA
President Bola Tinubu yesterday addressed the nation in the wake of the recent so-called nationwide protest, a complete misadventure which turned out to be nothing more than a smokescreen for mayhem, looting, insurgency and regime change through patently unconstitutional means instigated by failed politicians who woefully lost election.
These failed politicians, led by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, being keenly aware that they can never win a free and fair election in this country, duped a gullible section of the youths into believing that protest, rather than nation building, is the answer to national development.
In the process, they deployed incitement and instigation, ethnicism and religion, regionalism and division into a crooked protest they had all along planned to be infiltrated by thugs, miscreants, vandals, arsonists and all manner of godless elements determined to destroy their own country.
Our President’s speech has been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Nigerians because it calmed nerves, reassured the populace and set out a clear and coherent path forward for national rebirth and renewed hope.
Expectedly, those who hoped for destruction of the entire country through the protest have been propagating baseless narratives condemning the speech, claiming President Tinubu did not address the demands of the protesters.
The bitter truth is that the majority of Nigerians never supported the protest, were always suspicious of the intent of its mandateless organisers and sponsors, and, had absolutely no interest in burning down their own country.
Those criticising the President’s speech are mainly those disappointed that the overwhelming mass of Nigerians rejected their call to anarchy and largely stayed back home rather than be hoodwinked to key into a clandestine plot to tear our nation apart.
While the genuine demands of the peaceful protesters are being addressed by President Tinubu, as elucidated in his address, the ridiculous, unreasonable, undemocratic, unconstitutional and criminal demands of the organisers of the protest lack legitimacy on a number of fronts.
The organisers of the protest are either failed politicians or persons without mandate, many of whom are mere social media loudmouths and noisemakers who can never win elections even within their own families, not to talk of in their villages, wards or larger constituencies.
Several of them live abroad, where their families are safe and sound, while they instigate crisis, violence, arson, looting and destruction back home.
They encourage the children of the poor to burn down our country under the guise of a protest their children are not participating in.
They seek regime change through abominably unconstitutional and undemocratic means.
The truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with President Tinubu’s address except for those maniacally salivating for the impossible and undoable from him.
In short, regardless of what our President might had said in the address, they would still had condemned the speech.
Indeed, the only thing that would had placated them would have been for President Tinubu to become a traitor, turncoat, coward and anti-democrat by betraying his mandate, resigning for absolutely no reason and plunging the nation into complete chaos and disintegration.
In short, they are inconsolable that Nigerians have rejected the protest and have decided to go back to work and rebuild this nation.
They have failed and will continue to fail.
I urge all our dear fellow countrymen and adorable women to go back to work, to pray for our nation, to support our President in rebuilding this country, and to continue to key into the vision of renewed hope for Nigeria.
May God guide and protect President Tinubu.
God bless Nigeria!
Onokpasa, a lawyer, writes from Abuja.