ABUJA: Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu called on Sunday for a suspension of protests against a cost of living crisis, saying this would create an opportunity for dialogue, his first public comments since frustrated citizens took to the streets last week.
Amnesty International has said at least 13 people were killed in clashes with security forces on the first day of protests on Thursday. Police denied using excessive force and said seven people had died as of Saturday — four from an explosive device during a march in northeast Borno state, two who were hit by a car and another who was shot by a guard when protesters looted a shop.
In a televised broadcast, Tinubu called for an end to violence in several states since the protests started, saying he was always open for dialogue.
“My dear Nigerians, especially our youth, I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens,” he said.
Nigerians have been mobilizing online to organize protests against economic hardship and bad governance and have called for a cut in petrol prices and electricity tariffs, among several demands.
Tinubu, in office since May 2023, defended his economic reforms, which have included a partial end to petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluation of the naira, as necessary to reverse years of economic mismanagement.
He government revenues had more than doubled to 9.1 trillion naira ($5.65 billion) in the first half of this year while 68 percent of revenue now went to debt servicing, down from 97 percent before he took office in May last year.
The government was also ramping up spending on infrastructure projects, started a loan scheme for university students and was building thousands of housing units across Nigeria’s 36 states, the president said.
“But we must not let violence and destruction tear our nation apart,” said Tinubu.
Nigeria’s president calls for end to protests against economic hardship
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Nigeria’s president calls for end to protests against economic hardship
- Nigerians have been mobilizing online to organize protests against economic hardship and bad governance
Erika Kirk, widow of influential activist, endorses Vance for US President
- “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said
- The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again movement begins to look to a future without Trump
PHOENIX, USA: The widow of murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has endorsed JD Vance for president in 2028, firing an early starting gun on the White House race, and offering the backing of the influential youth organization founded by her husband.
Erika Kirk, whose husband’s Turning Point USA was a major player in mobilizing young people to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, told thousands of attendees she was backing the vice president to become the 48th president.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point gathering since Charlie Kirk was killed.
Vance is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday.
The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement begins to look to a future without Trump.
Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but he is widely expected to put himself forward.
An early endorsement from a group that has become increasingly powerful within the movement could help to create momentum that makes a Vance candidacy seem inevitable.
But it also comes at a time that fractures in the MAGA movement are becoming increasingly obvious, and as some key figures are starting to express frustration and disillusionment with Trump.
Last month, firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene launched a blistering attack on Trump’s second-term agenda, which she said was betraying voters.
Greene, until recently one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, has said she will leave congress in January, with some commentators speculating that she might make a tilt at 2028.
Other figures on the right, including white nationalist Nick Fuentes, also appear to be trying to lay claim to the crown.
Vance was close to Charlie Kirk in the months and years before he was shot dead on a Utah college campus, in a political assassination that shocked America and sent conservatives into shocked mourning.
The vice president flew to Utah to console Erika Kirk and to accompany Charlie Kirk’s body back to the couple’s Arizona home.
Footage showed Vance walking with the coffin as it was loaded onto Air Force Two.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was a talented speaker who toured college campuses where he challenged young people to debates on hot-button issues.
Edited clips of these confrontations helped build a large social media following, which he parlayed into a movement that worked to mobilize young voters on right-wing issues.
A month after his death, Trump posthumously awarded him the Presidential medal of Freedom, hailing the young activist as a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
