Soyinka Criticizes Tinubu’s Address for Ignoring Attacks on #EndBadGovernance Protesters

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s recent nationwide address, stating that it failed to address the ongoing attacks on #EndBadGovernance protesters by security agencies.

Soyinka expressed his concerns in a statement on Sunday, following Tinubu’s address to the nation.

The #EndBadGovernance protests entered their fourth day on Sunday, with demonstrators continuing to voice their frustrations over the country’s worsening economic hardship, rising poverty, and ineffective governance.

Soyinka stated, “I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation.

His outline of the government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.”

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He added that this oversight empowers security forces to act with impunity, perpetuating a cycle of resentment and reprisals. Soyinka condemned the use of live bullets and tear gas against peaceful protesters, describing it as a serious abuse and a sign of governance failure.

Soyinka also drew parallels with the pre-independence era, referencing the late pioneer Hubert Ogunde’s folk opera “Bread and Bullets,” which was created in response to similar acts of state repression during colonial times.

He emphasized that Nigeria’s security agencies should learn from more civilized approaches to protest management, citing the example of France’s Yellow Vest movement, where authorities avoided using lethal force even during physical confrontations with protesters.

“The serving of bullets where bread is pleaded is an ominous retrogression,” Soyinka warned, adding that such actions are often a prelude to more desperate upheavals, potentially leading to revolutions.

He called for a permanent abandonment of lethal responses by the security agencies, urging the nation to break free from its colonial inheritance of violent repression.

Soyinka suggested that today’s protesters consider adopting key songs from Ogunde’s “Bread and Bullets” as a form of peaceful resistance and a reminder of the need for change.

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Soyinka concluded by asserting that the time is long overdue for a lasting transformation in how the state handles civic protests, stating that this vicious cycle of violence must be broken.