Ezekwesili slammed Tinubu’s speech, saying it did not address the demands of protesters

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s speech as highly disappointing and failing to address the concerns of Nigerians in the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests across the country.

Ezekwesili who analysed Tinubu’s speech on Sunday in a statement, said the speech did not address the demands of the protesters, and did not inspire confidence among Nigerians.

In a post on his X account on Sunday, Ezekwesili said Tinubu’s speech was:
A huge missed opportunity to reassure citizens with sensible answers and a compelling, evidence-based outline of the actions his administration would take to address the country’s poor governance.

He noted that the speech “reads like a page from your party’s manifesto”.

Speaking directly to the President, Ezekwesili said:

“@officialABAT, As one of the millions of Nigerians who were in church when you delivered your final address to the people during the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria protest, I want to say vehemently that it was a very disappointing speech to read,” he said.

“Your speech is like part of your party’s manifesto and is completely inconsistent with what has our citizens on the streets angry and protesting.

“Your speech was a huge missed opportunity to reassure citizens with reasoned answers and a compelling outline of evidence-based actions you and @NigeriaGov will take immediately to address the priority issues of #BadGovernance.”

However, he called on Tinubu to accept the responsibilities that come with his office rather than blaming imaginary enemies.

“Your speech was unfortunately written again based on a mindset focused on ‘getting revenge on our enemies’. Imaginary enemies! No true Leader has the luxury of having ‘enemies’ among his citizens. Absolutely not.

“A public leader becomes a leader of ALL people with a mind that considers no one as an enemy.

“That is why it is so unfortunate to see Nigerian public ‘Leaders’ talking and behaving like losers on public governance issues when they are supposed to mobilize ALL their citizens to support the common goal of nation building.

“It is disgusting to see the repeated innate reluctance of Nigerian public leaders to acknowledge responsibility for the very demands of public leadership that they have killed and maimed citizens to carry out.

@officialABAT, Citizens know when they are being badly governed and from what can be seen, Nigerians have now realised that they must collectively speak up and take action, otherwise the rulers who are obsessed with themselves (and not their leaders) will not pay any attention to them at all.

“As we remember and pray for the families of all our citizens who were persecuted or injured for demanding an End to Bad Governance, may I appeal to you @officialABAT to immediately instruct the IG @PoliceNG and his men to “STOP THE KILLING OF PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NOW!

“Also arrest all law enforcement personnel who have killed and injured citizens and ensure they are punished as a deterrent to their colleagues.”

Ezekwesili slams Tinubu’s speech, says it does not address protesters’ demands first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.