The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in the 2023 elections, Adewole Adebayo, has submitted that despite the hardship in the country, the planned protest by some Nigerians against government policies would not achieve anything.
Adebayo stated further that the policies of the Bola Tinubu government are largely influenced by the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The SDP candidate, who warned that elections have consequences, said instead of staging protests, it is more sustainable to organise alternative policies to use to bring other ideological politics into power and change bad policies.
The submission in a post via his X account amidst the planned nationwide protests on August 1 organised by youths and groups via social media campaigns.
He also accused Tinubu of leading similar protests during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, but added that the same policies he protested against are what the current government under his leadership are also implementing, but with less humanity.
He wrote, “I opposed the Buhari-Tinubu farce that time, and I oppose the same thing now. As Buhari and Tinubu, and others were opposing Jonathan in 2014, they too were lobbying the same IMF, World Bank, etc for political support based on the same policies Jonathan was already implementing against his own wish, just to please the same IMF.
“As SDP presidential candidate, it is common knowledge that I opposed subsidy removal, floating of the naira, and many of the policies adopted by Tinubu, Atiku and Obi. Instead, I called for the full implementation of Chapter 2 of the Constitution fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy.”
Speaking on the consequence of elections, Adebayo reiterated that, “Four year tenure is sacred if we must avoid chaos, protests have no ideological basis for the protest sponsors follow the same neolibéral policies and you must vote wisely next time.”
He added that while it is important to debunk the lies of the All Progressives Congress (APC), rampage protest is not the solution.
“A protest is already a protest if you voice out disagreement in any lawful forum or media. Once you organise a mass protest to challenge pure policy measures and their natural fallouts, you are doing politics, and the other side can originate counter protests. In the case of Nigeria and Kenya, you won’t achieve anything substantial because the major political forces on both sides of the protests agree on neolibéral economic policies whose inevitable consequences are what they are protesting against.
“It is more sustainable to organise alternative policies to use to bring other ideological politics into power and change bad policies of the Neoliberal economic policies, whose inevitable consequences are what they are protesting against,” he said.
