July 23, 2024

Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, has faced a backlash, following his controversial statement regarding potential protests in Nigeria.

Olusegun’s comment, which many perceived as a threat, has ignited controversies about the right to protest and the current economic hardships faced by Nigerians.

Olusegun in a post on Tuesday via X stated: “Those who want to burn the country down under whatever guise will meet the strongest resistance of their lives. Not from security agencies, but from the silent majority that gave their mandate to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for four years in the first instance. We are waiting.”

This statement came in the wake of calls for nationwide protests from August 1-10 against the rising cost of living and economic hardship.

President Tinubu, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Tuesday, appealed to citizens to shelve the planned protests and give his administration more time to address their concerns.

However, Olusegun’s comment has been met with widespread criticism on social media.

Many users pointed out the apparent hypocrisy, recalling that members of the current administration, including Olusegun himself, had participated in protests during previous governments.

Twitter user #cartermillz highlighted this contradiction, saying, “I am sure D. O. was on the street with other protesters during the Jonathan government and no one threatened them back then. But today, he is dinning with government and do not longer feel the pains of ordinary Nigerians that they felt during Jonathan years… hypocrisy 2.0.”

Another user, Aremu Ridwan #REALLUCAS20, emphasised the right to protest, stating, “Those who gave mandate to GEJ didn’t resist Tinubu and co, when they protested against GEJ govt in 2012. Let the individuals willing to register their displeasure against the hardship, carry on without being intimidated. Protest is a fundamental human right.”

The backlash also highlighted the severe economic challenges faced by many Nigerians.

Ben Samuel #flourish007 shared a personal anecdote stating, “One of my brothers voted for BAT, but today, he can barely feed his family under BAT’s government despite being a businessman. He’s now joining the peaceful protest and comparing it to Buhari’s administration.”

Some users, like Alli Moshood #bigmorsh, called for a balanced approach, acknowledging the right to protest while emphasising the need to differentiate between peaceful protesters and those who might cause mayhem.

bigmorsh wrote: “There is hunger in the land obviously only if we all want deliberately shy away from the truth. Those kind of people have a right to protest. What we must focus on now is how to separate those who want to protest peacefully and those who want to use the avenue that they lost election to cause mayhem.”

Meanwhile, X users went further to dig up old tweets of Olusegun stating his support for protests. Some of the tweets are dated 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

On September 2, 2012, Dada Olusegun posted: “Every Nigerian has a right to protest. Its a fundamental right! If u don’t buy the opinion, don’t instill fear into them. That’s evil!”

On January 1, 2012, He posted: “Special S/0 to dat policeman that will shoot me when I protest, ur corpse and dat of ur kids wil b eaten by Dogs.”