Protest: I still believe in you, but you must address hunger now – Alagbada to Tinubu

Kehinde Alagbada, an Abuja-based activist, has called on the President, Bola Tinubu to put all efforts into addressing the hardship and rising hunger in the country, to clear angry protesters from the streets.

The Federal Government had tried many things to discourage Nigerians from going ahead with the protest, but countless protesters still took to the streets as planned on August 1.

In an open letter to the President, Alagbada said “While I still have faith in your administration and your vision for Nigeria, you must act quickly now.

“Hungry people are angry people, and I have witnessed this firsthand. I urge you to take immediate action to address the issue of hunger and prevent violent protest.”

“Please do everything you can to address these issues and bring Nigerians with better ideas to the table,” he appealed.

Alagbada, claiming to be a lover of Nigeria and Tinubu, mentioned that he had seen numerous letters and complaints from Nigerians with both realistic and unrealistic requests and demands, emphasizing that he was making a case for the realistic demands to be addressed quickly.

“I share in President Tinubu’s vision and dream for our country where the children of the poor can breathe, the blind can see again, farming becomes attractive, and every child can access quality education.

“I commend you for your achievements so far, including local government autonomy, student loans among other life-touching policies.

“For instance, the millions of naira allocations given to federal lawmakers for rice distribution in December was a waste as the rice never reached the intended beneficiaries.

“Instead, some lawmakers used only about five percent (5%) of the funds for the project and pocketed the rest for personal gain.”

“Mr. President, even those who love and believe in you are angry, mainly due to the ineffectiveness of your cabinet members.

“Most of them have not performed well, and the Renewed Hope agenda is bigger than these individuals,” Alagbada, who is also an entrepreneur added.

He advised President Tinubu to also act quickly and replace cabinet members who were cogs in the wheel of the progress of his administration, adding that there were thousands of Nigerians out there with the capacity to bring better results to his administration if he employed them.

Finally, Alagbada urged the President to create employment and empowerment opportunities for the youths, to avoid them being idle and hence delving into unseemly activities.