₦airaland Forum

Jarus:
Lmao

Seun is the one that is envious .

Buy thank God he had an opportunity to finally vent out his hatred last month.

In hindsight, based on his creepy questions to me, he may have agenda to kidnap and possibly m*rder me based on the type of questions he used to ask me and how he reacted publicly few weeks later despite having private access.

I hear Seun Osewa is mischievously using this December 2023 reconciliation initiated by our mutual family friend (friend to his brother and my brother) to say we have reconciled despite all he did last month.

First, this was Dec 2023. All he did to me last month was after this. So there is no reconciliation and there is never going to be after all he did. I thought this Dec 2023 had settled our previous issues and we were cool after this until he came all out for me in June/July, when he saw the opportunity he was looking for. The mischief tweet he made today about reconciliation is clearly to deceive his audience to think I had gone to him for reconciliation after all he did last month. Nah!

Second, he talked about my little success and all of that in his new drivel. When I tell people this is about envy, people say I was lying. That tweet confirms that. He saw an opportunity to damage me. He maximised it. But he was pained that all his campaign never affected me. He was disappointed and came back to launch another attack. He twisted an old reconciliation to mean.

I’m not a perfect human, but why are you worried about me? Why are you pained? Now you realize your efforts came to nought and begin another wailing. You were disappimted my birthday organically trended with goodwill messages all over this space after I returned here - what you cannot pull. You gnashed your tweet and came the next day to launch another attack on me. If not envy, why are you worried about what happens to me after all I did?

As long as I do not wish ill of any other person, by the grace of God, all that concerns me will be successful, no matter your efforts. It is my mother’s prayer. It is the prayer of the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives I have had impact and will continue to have impact. It is the prayers of my genuine well-wishers. You cannot do anything about it. You can only cry in closet and make twitter thread after every cry.

This is clearly envy. But are you not tired it is not working?

1/2

After the Dec 2023 reconciliation, I thought you, Seun Osewa, and I were cool and I was relating with you normally. I even sought your consent before putting up that Dec 2023 public tweet about our reconciliation and you consented to it. I didn’t know you were unhappy people called me “mature” until you mentioned it in your tweet today.

After the Dec 2023, we were relating normally, you were always coming to my Whatsapp to privately ask questions about my public tweets. You even called me your role model. You always ask questions about my business and I always give you answers.

Up until 11 June, two weeks before my public marital incident, you were still in my Whatsapp asking me questions about how I run my business.

I was replying you with open heart. I did not know you were not happy.

I had an issue just two weeks after and you ignored this private access you normally used to go all out on me on social media.

It was clear you were deliberately out to spoil my brand. You saw an opportunity and you milked it. You thiught my brand was permanently damaged. I came back and you were sad and started another campaign.

Seun, by the grace of God, as long as I do not wish ill of you or anyone, your efforts will always come to nought.

The guy who motivated Suraj "Jarus" Oyewale to stage a reconciliation with me, causing people to applaud his "maturity", told me that Suraj will continue to be successful despite what he did. I responded that this is my expectation as well.

I didn't take a stand against polygamy and wife beating to take Jarus down. I took it because I hate polygamy and wife beating. This is why I said that he should be forgiven if he apologizes.

The only person who can bring Suraj down is himself, and I am confident that as long as he learns from every mistake and doesn't repeat them, he will continue to grow in success and popularity.

But that doesn't mean I have to kiss his narcissistic arse. I will not condone polygamy and wife beating just because a popular and rich person did them. Money and popularity should not lead to impunity.

TINUBU is the first ever President of Nigeria to have come from LAGOS. He is also the first President to swear in the first ever woman in Nigeria's history who comes from the south and Lagos as CJN. TINUBU is also the first President ever to have returned from Paris to swear in the new CJN without delegating the duty. Tinubu is also the first President ever to swear in a new CJN in less than 5 hours after arriving from over 6 hours trip!

Krai if you wan krai, na wetin I wan talk be dat.

The only businesses thriving in Nigeria appear to be the ones related to Tinubu's family.

We need leaders who truly care for the masses not these set of opposition who are interested in SM validation!

The fact that some folks here praise Mr President here and still go to Dm to beg for food is really scàry!

To the ones who want to listen! A support to presidency does not mean you should suspend your brà!n. Be patriotic to your country!

I Support the presidency for accountability; Hold him responsible!
He said “Do not pity me” Call him out when he errs…. I am committed to Nigeria cause not politician cause!

Nigerians now sleep in fueling stations, this is unacceptable,unbearable and should be condemned.

@officialABAT 8 million Nigerians that voted for you should not be in any way suffer like this.

Don't let them Mock us by saying we told you, dear President. 🥹

Bello Galadanchi, a skitmaker popularly known as Dan Bello, has said that Nigerians are dying of hunger because of President Bola Tinubu economic policies.

Dan Bello stated this during an interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics on Tuesday.

He challenged the government to sue him if it was not happy with his works.

The skitmaker said that he was not affiliated to any political party in the country, saying he was not working for anybody.

Bello said, “If what I am doing is not good for them, that means that it is automatically good for the people. If what they are doing is good, then no one will feel that the content is creating significant chances. That automatically is saying what they are doing is not enough. What they are doing is causing all these issues we are facing.

“The ruling party has enacted policies that are making people hungry. People are dying. People are eating grass right now. People drinking contaminated water. People go about knocking doors and saying we have not eaten for three days.

“This is not a natural disaster, rainfall or a tsunami. These are from policies that can be avoidable. These leaders just put out those policies and closed their ears.

“And now they are unhappy because we are calling them out because of the policies. They just want us to keep quiet while people are dying. Really? Where is our humanity? What is the point of studying and seeing how things are done outside and people don’t go hungry in other countries? And we just keep quiet.

“Now they are unhappy because they are getting themselves billions of naira and doing all kinds of bogus projects. Yes, I want them to be unhappy. I want them to go to court. I want them to sue and do anything they can so that we can keep quiet. That means our work is getting better and better.”

The journalist David Hundeyin @DavidHundeyin, who is not a fan of Dangote, rejected money to write an article against the Dangote refinery.

This is what I call integrity!

I debated long and hard whether to do this publicly, but I think a message needs to be sent to a group of external interests working in tandem with the internal interests described in the quoted tweet to counteract the interests of half a billion West Africans. A message that at whatever level we exist, we take our destiny seriously and we are not to be trifled with.

Last week, I received an N800,000 offer from an international NGO called Dialogue Earth (formerly known as China Dialogue Trust) to write an article essentially saying that Dangote Refinery is terrible for the environment because something something "Environmental Concerns," something something "Climate Change," something something "Energy Transition Policy," something something "COP 28."

The (unstated but clearly implied) thrust of the brief was for a prominent local voice to put their name on an article that is an argument or a premise for the the Nigerian government to kill the refinery based on its "energy transition commitments" and "environmental policy." This conclusion wasn't immediately apparent when they reached out to me, but I suspected where it was heading, and I quickly accepted the offer so that I could see the brief and obtain hard evidence. I've attached screenshots from the brief below.

Basically, this London-based NGO is headed by Sam Geall, an Oxford professor and is funded by several American intelligence fronts such as Ford Foundation and ClimateWorks (which is blacklisted in India for funding organisations working against India's national interest). For whatever reason, it is now quietly mobilising a resistance campaign against what it describes as "Nigeria's first refinery." Apparently, the status quo of Africa's largest oil producer having no functioning oil refinery to beneficiate its own oil was not a problem for Dialogue Earth and the American CIA fronts who fund it.

The human poverty caused by exporting this raw material and importing refined fuel was not bad for the environment. Also, the fact of European refiners regularly blending West African fuel cargoes with toxic waste and sulphur content 200 times the European legal limit (leading to asthma, bronchitis and eye infections in West Africa) was also not bad for the environment. But Nigeria having a refinery that will wean West Africa off import dependency on those European refiners (and allow West Africa control the sulphur content of its own fuels) is where Dialogue Earth and its funders draw the line. That one is bad for the environment, and David Hundeyin should write an article calling for the refinery to be shut down or limited.

I'm putting this out there publicly so that nobody will henceforth use the term "conspiracy theory" when it is pointed out for the umpteenth time, that there are American and European state and private interests that are heavily invested in keeping Africa exactly as poor as it is, and that they regularly push levers most of us do not even know exist, to make sure that this status quo is protected. These people believe that Africans should not exist or have nice things in this world. Apparently, the sole purpose of our existence is to enhance their experience of the planet and all that it has to offer.

It is because of them that I have to make a public spectacle out of this, even though I know that doing this is probably going to cost someone their job. The message needs to be passed that as poor as we are, you cannot convince us to campaign for the elongation of our own poverty by commissioning $500 hack jobs in the hope that we will be greedy enough to only see the money and ignore the bigger picture of what we can clearly see you trying to do.

I will reiterate something I have said multiple times - I am not a believer in the religious faith called Climate Change/Saving The Environment. I care exactly as much about the environment as do the rich white men who destroyed it to begin with. I firmly believe that if what it takes for Africa to industrialise is for it to burn so much fossil fuel that snow stops falling in Wisconsin and it starts raining concentrated sulphuric acid in Doncaster, it is not too big a price for Europe and North America to pay - it is certainly not bigger than the price Africa had to pay for Europe and North America to develop.

It is and will continue to be 100% OUR prerogative to determine what to do with our hydrocarbons. It is not the rich white men hiding behind these "Climate Advocacy NGOs" who will tell us what to do with our energy reserves, and by what means we are allowed to escape the poverty that they engineered for us.

I might not be a fan of Aliko Dangote or his monopolistic business practices - as is well known - but I'm also smart enough to know when rich white men in DC, Houston, Rotterdam and London and trying to use me as a marionette in their 400 year-old coloniser games. If you are reading this and you are one of the rich white men whose economic interests are threatened by Nigeria refining its own oil, you should come out and fight Aliko Dangote by yourself.

Or at least go find a much stupider African to do your dirty job - there's plenty of those.

It will never be me.

NgeneUkwenu:
When will these people learn that this twin evil of fuel and dollar subsidy is gone forever?

Who tell these people that the Core North is not entirely Northern Nigeria?

Who will tell these people that Tinubu will not only win handsomely in 2027 but will install his successor in 2031( A christain from North Central or East).

Who will tell these people that Tinubu is not Jonathan?

Who will tell these people that country doesn't not belong the core North?

Useless parasites!

#EndBadGovernance protests that end today, known by the reduplicative compound “Zanga-Zanga” in Hausaphone northern Nigeria, have ruptured the coalition that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu managed to build with a portion of the northern Muslim political establishment since 2014, which put Muhammadu Buhari in power in 2015 and 2019 and him in 2023.

But this Zanga-Zanga-inspired rupture also reveals the initial precarity and fragility of the strange-bedfellows coalition. Buhari and Tinubu were previously fierce political adversaries who distrusted each other’s motives and undermined each other. Their alliance was more accurately a political scaffold that papered over their contradictions for a temporary gain, which was the ouster of Goodluck Jonathan from power.

Tinubu’s associates and acolytes in the Southwest, who said they protected Buhari from revolt in their region even when he bungled governance with uncommon ineptitude, are understandably miffed at the rawness, fierce intensity, and undiluted anti-Tinubu fervor of the protests in northern Nigeria.

They are wondering why Buhari, his associates, and even the APC establishment in the North didn’t return the favor. The answers are obvious, but people in power are often blind to the obvious, especially if the obvious is disquieting.

First, Buhari and his supporters know that the Tinubu group, which had a tight leash on the Southwest political space, didn’t protect Buhari from the consequences of his infernal incompetence out of any high-minded considerations. They did so because they needed power after Buhari’s term in office. It was unvarnished calculative opportunism.

Since Buhari’s people have no expectation of any kind of requital from Tinubu, like Tinubu did from them, they felt no obligation to protect or explain away Tinubu’s own hard-hearted incompetence. The chase often stops after a conquest. Men who woo women can relate to this sentiment.

Second, the misery that Tinubu’s simultaneous policies of never-before-seen astronomical petrol price increase and devaluation of the naira unleashed on the country are felt more deeply in the North than in any part of the country because of the preexisting multidimensional poverty in the region and the pervading insecurity that makes farming almost impossible.

Money is now both hard to find and worthless when it is found, and food is both hard to find and unaffordable when it is found. That is an unprecedentedly profound, not to mention unsurvivable, existential torment.

Two days after the #EndBadGovernance protests started, I told someone that many people in the North have been rendered so desolate, so destitute, and so despondent by the economic crunch that they are looking to cash in on the protests to commit suicide by police bullets because Islam forbids suicide.

Islam teaches that committing suicide guarantees an unfettered passage to the hottest depths of hellfire in the hereafter. I said many people who couldn’t survive the pain and humiliation of perpetual hunger might tempt security forces to shoot them so they could end it all and not fear that they would provoke the wrath of their Creator for committing suicide.

Of course, this is twisted thinking because a famous hadith, which every Muslim who took Islamic Studies in secondary school knows, says “Actions shall be judged according to intention.”

Well, my predictions turned out to be accurate. A friend shared a video of scores of protesters in a northern city chanting, “da yunwa ta kashe mu, da ma bullet ya kashe mu" (rough translation: "Instead of dying of hunger, we would rather be killed by a bullet”) as they confronted gun-wielding military and police officers.

There is also the viral video of protesters bursting into the Zamfara State Government House in Gusau and defying, even daring, menacing, gun-toting soldiers who tried to stop them. Several such scenes have been replicated throughout the North.

The mistake the government is making is to dismiss the protests as entirely politically motivated. They are not. Even if they wanted, Buhari and his associates couldn’t stop the protests both because the shelf life of Buhari’s “magic” has expired (his own house was besieged in Daura, and he had been pelted with stones while he was in power in cities like Kano and Maiduguri where he had been idolized) and because the extent of anguish people are going through now is unappeasable.

Apart from the usual criminals of opportunity (who exploit every unrest to steal and destroy), the vast majority of protesters think their only hope of living is to risk death and push back at policies that kill them slowly but surely. You can’t persuade people who have nothing to lose by dying.

That was why American author Dan Groat pointed out in his 2014 book titled In Monarchs and Mendicants, “Not interested in scarin’ anybody, but people with good sense are afraid of a man with nothin’ to lose.” Lance Conrad echoed this in his book The Price of Nobility when he said, “Only a fool would underestimate a man with nothing to lose.”

People who weren’t exempt from the rage of protesters can’t stop protesters from protesting.

The self-inflicted attenuation of Tinubu’s political capital in the North plays into the old debate in the Southwest about the best coalitional strategy to attain and retain power for the Yoruba.

The Chief Obafemi Awolowo strategy, which Afenifere still believes in, sees the Muslim North as a competitor and not an ally. The Awo strategy for getting power is to build an alliance between the entire South and Northern Christians.

But the Chief Ladoke Akintola template sees the Muslim North as a strategic partner in light of the deep historical and cultural ties that bind Yoruba people and several linguistic, ethnic, and cultural groups in the Muslim North, such as Borgu, Nupe, Igala, and Hausa people. (Read my October 9, 2021, column titled “Arewa and Oduduwa More Alike than Unlike.”) This is hardly surprising because even though Akintola was a Christian, he was from Ogbomoso whose traditional ruler traces ancestral roots to Borgu.

Chief MKO Abiola—and now President Tinubu—subscribe to the Akintola template. Abiola was briefly vindicated when he won the June 12, 1993, presidential election with enormous support from the North, including Kano, his opponent’s home state.

But the revocation of his epochal electoral triumph by a Northern military head of state—and the decidedly ethnic and regional character the fight for and the opposition to his mandate later took—appeared to justify the distrust of the Muslim North by the Awo group, which nonetheless gave full-throated support to Abiola to reclaim his mandate.

Tinubu, undeterred by Abiola’s experience, reinvented the Akintola template. It’s as if he wanted to prove that he could tread the same path and get to the destination that Abiola couldn’t get to. That must be why he called his presidential bid “Renewed Hope.” Abiola’s was “Hope.” Like Abiola, he chose a Muslim running mate. And, like Abiola, his running mate is a Kanuri man from Borno.

With the Muslim North now souring on him only one year into his first term and the unlikelihood of his ever recovering whatever goodwill he had from the region if he continues with his economic policies that push people to the brink of the existential precipice, the Awo/Afenifere group may be having the last laugh.

So, what should he do? The best option is to discard the IMF/World Bank neoliberal policies he’s enamored with (which have never worked anywhere in the world) and embrace Awolowo’s welfarist capitalist template of governance that puts the development and wellbeing of people at the center of policies. That may restore his goodwill with the North—and even earn him more support elsewhere.

The other options are non-starters, but I’ll mention them anyway. Like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who won his first term with the support of the Muslim North, but who later used the Awo/Afenifere template to get a second term, Tinubu can court the Christian North and galvanize the South. Goodluck Jonathan used this template in 2011 and won.

The problem is that if Peter Obi runs in 2027, and I don’t see any reason why he won’t, Tinubu won’t be able to galvanize the South into a unified voting bloc. And, although the worst fears of his Muslim-Muslim ticket among Christians haven’t materialized, northern Christians are unlikely to embrace him wholeheartedly, however hard he tries to woo them.

In other words, Tinubu is cooked, as Gen Zs say. Anything short of bringing down the cost of petrol, restoring the value of the naira, and making everyday things affordable will doom Tinubu’s first term and deny him a second term because he is now effectively a political orphan.

A bandit is doing a giveaway on TikTok.

President Bola Tinubu’s allies are pressuring him to authorise a desperate strategy that could dramatically escalate the stakes of the raging nationwide protest against poverty and corruption, Peoples Gazette can report.

Two independent sources have briefed The Gazette about a plot that one of them described as “too sinister” to be allowed to proceed without being exposed, hoping its disclosure would put its proponents on the defensive and force the president to end the plot in its tracks.

“The discussion at the meeting was too dangerous for our country,” a source with information about what transpired at the parley said. “I support the president and all the efforts he’s making to get the protesters to call off their disruptive activities, but we have to put the country first by not taking extreme measures.”

The Gazette learnt that the meeting was held at about 11:00 a.m. on Monday, and it featured Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele and ministers David Umahi, Nyesom Wike and Bello Matawalle among other officials. Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila coordinated the meeting on behalf of the president, who did not participate, our sources said.

Mr Tinubu had on Sunday announced his government’s desire to find urgent solutions to some of the issues animating the rallies across the country. He proposed an urgent removal of levies on food imports and additional support for poor seniors and low-wage earners, among others.

But protesters said the nationwide address did not go far enough and the protests, which began on August 1, would continue until further demands were met, especially a return of the subsidy regime and a radical reform to significantly deplete the federal budget and divert the funds to the poor masses instead.

Sources said Mr Wike, the FCT minister, was adamant that the president should not concede any further to the protesters, arguing instead that they would be tired and go home. But should the demonstrations move forward, the government should not hesitate to take steps that would make the price of further protests too high for participants.

Mr Wike had already taken measures to deter the protests in Abuja, including obtaining a series of dubious court orders to prohibit citizens from taking to the streets. But the court orders were ignored and the judges who granted them were mocked on social media for doing what critics described as transparently shoddy work.

Mr Wike’s turned to friendly judges in addition to previous government efforts to impede internet access nationwide and make it difficult for protesters to share multimedia from venues in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and other cities around the country.

“They will get more hoodlums to cause more destruction and looting amongst the protesters, and kill some policemen, then the government will blame it on the protesters,” a senior administration official said, relaying how Mr Wike said the plan would go on. Messrs Gbajabiamila and Akpabio were said to have agreed with the plan.

Additional federal troops would be deployed to violently disperse protesters from grounds across the country, according to the source who was relaying Mr Wike’s argument. The Gazette reported last week that the military was preparing to intervene in the protests, which are guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution.

“It could turn out to be the greatest mistake of the president if he follows this reckless recommendation,” another official said. “We have to continue to dialogue with the protesters, but the FCT minister didn’t seem to be interested in doing that.”

Already, at least 15 civilians have. been killed by security forces since the rallies began on Thursday. A police officer brazenly executed an unarmed protester in Azare, Bauchi, on Monday afternoon, prompting the governor to declare a curfew over the entire local government area.

Other officials suggested allowing the protests to go on until the protesters became too fatigued to proceed.

A presidential spokesperson said many recommendations came in, but no action can proceed without the president’s approval, which will be carefully considered. Messrs Gbajabiamila, Akpabio, Bamidale and Umahi declined comments to The Gazette about the meeting. Mr Matawalle could not be reached on Tuesday afternoon.

Stop thrèàten!ng Tinubu with second term!
If he lose; it won’t remove his name from history as Ex President!

GEJ is ex president today and man is doing well; focus on governance and leave 2027!
Let God decide 2027!!!

This post is not about The unity of South… if una like unite or not!
My own is Give us regional government. North go show una shege if una like no unite….Give me regional govt I am okay !
Another election circle will come! Then you will understand this post!

The North did not stop anybody from protesting against Buhari's clear and obvious misrule. In fact, as I recall, the loudest and most insufferable defenders of all things Buhari were the loudmouths from Lagos who thought that their purpose in life was to get their Ikoyi golden calf into Aso Rock, whereupon they would get their turn with the prom queen at the apparent expense of the southeast (which per the rotational principle, was supposed to produce the president in 2023).

The fact that the North has decided against returning the favour by dying of Tinubu's (even worse) misrule simply means that the political consciousness of the North is superior to that of the idiots in Lagos and the southwest. It means that they are smart enough to only tolerate misrule 50% of the time, while the idiots in the southwest will accept it 100% of the time. It means that the Northern political establishment will accept misrule where they directly benefit from it, and will oppose it where they don't, while the generational blockheads in Lagos will vote for and cheerfully endure all kinds of misrule on credit.

To protect Buhari because of their golden calf's 2023 plan, these idiots even enabled a massacre of civilian protesters in Lagos and went around saying, "Where are the bodies?" At least we know for a fact that no northerner alive or dead would have watched a southern president shoot 100 unarmed, peaceful northern civilian protesters dead in the middle of Kano, and said nothing about it because of an election. That means the North has a basic sense of pride and honour. They have a code. It's not their fault that we don't.

I am fully in support of their regime change agenda, and if it results in a northern military head of state, I will offer my full support to him as long as his agenda involves aligning Nigeria with the AES bloc and integrating Nigeria's economic and defense strategies with China and Russia.

In case you're asking, "Has David given up on democracy?" The answer is, whatever poor attempt at democracy that existed in Nigeria died on May 29, 2023. Since then, Nigeria has been ruled by a hostile, foreign-puppeted, unelected occupying regime made up of former inhabitants of American prison cells.

I'm fully ready to take an actual full-chest military dictatorship over...whatever the Bleep this is.

Omoh, Notherners are never voting for APC again, this is Day 6 of the protest 😭💀

Omoh, Notherners are never voting for APC again, this is Day 6 of the protest 😭💀 pic.twitter.com/vgRLeYbFy2

— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) August 6, 2024

APC office in Buhari’s hometown of Daura was redesigned today.

People are hungry.

We are moving to the next level of the protest and it won’t be funny.
#EndBadGovernancelnNigeria

APC office in Buhari’s hometown of Daura was redesigned today.

People are hungry.

We are moving to the next level of the protest and it won’t be funny.#EndBadGovernancelnNigeria pic.twitter.com/g63HigSI6Q

— DEMAGOGUE PhD.💘senior advocat (@von_Bismack) August 6, 2024

Tinubu Must restructure Nigeria.

I can see the handwriting on the wall… One of the reasons I never supported any politician in the past because it is game of interest!

If you think The North will vote Tinubu in 2027 then you are a fôó1.

If you think North will support Peter Obi then you are another super fôö1

Most of the Northerners here are only about themselves….It is not about good governance. Wake up guys!!!

~>Bring a côw from North to be president; you will never hear pim even if he’s hosp!tal!sèd for 4 years.

~> Boko Haram h!ts every day while that clôwn was there. No protest!

If you observe throughout the protest;

Buhari never said a word!

I don’t feel anything for Tinubu though; He brought this upon himself for supporting The North and never went against Buhari!

Tinubu,Restructure this country!

Don’t leave that power without writing your name in Gold.

Dissolve This Union…. North has the numbers and will use it against The South.

Honestly, I suspect that Yele Sowore is the one behind sponsoring this protest.

Asonaijaaso:
Your mods always banning me.....making me create new monikers
Meanwhile i think NLFounder is a better name for you.
I also think if you want to work together and diversify the interface on Nairaland.
You log into instagram, facebook and there are new updates every now and then.
But Nairaland hardly makes any changes.
I sincerely think a lot can be done, I have a few ideas if you are open minded enough to entertain them.

Tinubu made a strategic error of not telling Nigerians how much the govt spends on fuel subsidies and to defend the naira every month. To impress foreign investors, they continued to claim that the subsidies were gone. Nigerians don't realize how much they are being subsidized.

No retreat. No surrender 🙏

#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria
Day 2 #Kaduna

Video: “Asari we dey NDDC…where you dey?”- Protester chants

Video: “Asari we dey NDDC…where you dey?”- Protester chants pic.twitter.com/LZnzNYB2jS

— Portharcourt Specials (@phspecials) August 2, 2024

As Nigerians stage protests nationwide to voice their concerns about economic hardship and rising poverty, a yet-to-be-identified man drew significant attention in Lagos State on Thursday by stripping naked as a form of protest.

A PUNCH Healthwise correspondent present at the protest witnessed the man walking naked through the streets of Ojota, amidst the crowd of protesters, and was seen singing “Solidarity Forever.”

This dramatic demonstration has, however, sparked discussions among mental health professionals.

Nigerians began the #EndbadgovernanceinNigeria protest on August 1, 2024, to draw the attention of the government to the plight being faced by the masses.

Psychiatrists, who spoke exclusively to PUNCH Healthwise on the issue, stated that although this behaviour does not always point to a mental health problem, it might be a sign of severe emotional or psychological pain associated with the economic burdens being protested.

They noted that extreme action like this can sometimes blur the lines between activism and mental health concerns.

A consultant drug addiction psychiatrist, Dr. Kehinde Oderinde, said the act of disrobing as part of a protest was far from typical, and such extreme actions could sometimes be a way to draw attention to the urgency of a cause.

Oderinde explained that this type of behaviour could be an indication of high levels of emotional or psychological distress.

From a mental health perspective, the psychiatrist emphasised the importance of understanding the context behind such behaviour.

He said, “Seeing someone naked at a protest can indeed be striking and raises several questions. The behaviour of stripping naked as a form of protest isn’t typical, but “normalcy” can be subjective.

“People often use extreme methods to draw attention to their cause. This act alone doesn’t necessarily indicate a mental health issue but can be a form of extreme expression.

“Such behaviour might reflect high levels of distress, frustration, or a strong desire to make a statement. It could be a sign of emotional or psychological strain.

“However, it’s also possible that the individual used shock value deliberately. That is, he is mentally sound but highly committed to their cause.”

Speaking on how such action could affect others, the mental health expert added, “For some, such an act might be eye-catching and impactful, potentially raising awareness about the issue being protested.

“For others, it could be distressing or confusing, which might detract from the message of the protest or be perceived as disruptive.

“From a mental health standpoint, it’s essential to understand the context. If the person’s behaviour is part of a larger pattern of extreme actions or signs of distress, it might warrant a closer look by mental health professionals.

“However, if this behaviour is an isolated act for a specific cause, it might not necessarily reflect ongoing mental health issues but rather a deliberate, albeit extreme, form of activism. Understanding the full context and motivations behind such actions is crucial in evaluating their mental health implications accurately.”

Corroborating his view, a clinical psychologist specialising in stress and trauma, Dr. Taiwo Shogunde, emphasised the potential psychological strain involved in such acts.

Shogunde said when people resort to extreme measures, it is an indication that they are experiencing profound emotional distress or a sense of urgency,

He noted that the behaviour might not necessarily indicate a mental health disorder but could be a manifestation of significant psychological pressure

“Extreme protest actions like this can sometimes blur the lines between activism and mental health concerns. It’s crucial to understand the context in which these actions occur. If this is part of a broader pattern of extreme behaviour, it might warrant further evaluation.

“In many cases, these actions are strategic and purposeful rather than symptomatic of a mental health disorder,” he said.

Speaking on the impact on others, he added, “For some, the nudity might serve as a compelling method to bring attention to an important issue. However, others might find the display confusing or unsettling, which could detract from the intended message.”

PUNCH Healthwise reports that the nationwide protest has erupted across Nigeria, as citizens express frustration over the country’s prevailing economic hardship.

Our correspondent who monitored the protest in parts of Lagos, observed that protesters defied an order obtained from a court, confining them to some areas, and took to the streets, roads, and Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, in Lagos, to express their grievances.

So Nigerians can unite like this! What a day to be alive. Christians in Jos and Osogbo guarding Muslims as they observe Jumu’at prayer. Maybe this protest is what unite Muslims in Plateau and Nigeria for good. Alhamdulillah!

So Nigerians can unite like this! What a day to be alive. Christians in Jos and Osogbo guarding Muslims as they observe Jumu’at prayer. Maybe this protest is what unite Muslims in Plateau and Nigeria for good. Alhamdulillah! pic.twitter.com/CQZbatGhgo

— My Deen My Swag 💫 (@AM_Saleeeem) August 2, 2024

While Muslims are saying afternoon prayers, the non-Muslims stood by the side waiting for them to finish and take protest further.

Nigerians get united anytime those bad leaders are not involved in thier affairs .

The Iman covers himself with a 🇳🇬 while leading the prayers

Wayyo Tinubu, Babu barkonon 100 sai na dubu, taliya ma sai na Dubu 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/rDVeGaZMom

— Hamma (@HAHayatu) July 31, 2024

In a bold move to address the challenges faced by the community, the ONLEGA Community in Rivers State has initiated a hardship protest. The protest aims to draw attention to the economic hardships and lack of basic amenities faced by the residents of the community.