The few things I can make out of the President’s speech are:
The President’s speech shows that he feels his administration has done so much for the youths, that there is absolutely no basis for the loud disaffections.
To the President and his advisers, the only genuine demand for the youths is the demand for police reforms and scrapping of SARS, which he had quickly acceded to.
The President also gave tacit support to the anti-EndSars protestors and urged that the #EndSars protesters must respect the rights of this other group, whom most people, see as been hired to disrupt these protests.
Our President evaded the Lekki tollgate issue. To him, it either did not happen or it is not worth his time.
He paid tribute to members of the Armed Forces who have paid the supreme price in the line of duty. He also assured on his readiness to protect Nigerians and directed security operatives not to harass ordinary Nigerians whom he had commanded to go about their businesses without fear of molestation.
The President acknowledged the power of the social media in ‘harassing’ his administration by exposing its incompetence.
He waved off the advice from a number of international statesmen on the need to be cautious and respectful of people’s rights in dealing with the protests, as unwieldy interference. He urged them to get the right information before commenting on issues affecting his country.
It is clearer that the President is not ready to shift grounds on some of the most sensitive issues as it relates to his governance styles or he pretends not to understand that these are actually the main issues. For him, we called for police reforms and the scrapping of SARS, and he had promptly shown good faith with these demands by scrapping SARS, which signposts a readiness for far-reaching reforms in the Police Force.
The President simply glossed over the issues. He skipped the specifics and advertised his rigidity on issues of governance. For him, he is the best and anyone who complains is ungrateful and being political.
As tasteless as this national broadcast is, there is no doubt that the President was literally dragged before the cameras to make this broadcast, but it is not totally disappointing, especially, for those of us who have been listening to this President for sometime and who can accurately predict his lines of thought and actions.
#EndBadGovernance
May Nigeria Prevail!
