President Bola Tinubu has told Nigerians protesting against a cost of living crisis that he has “heard” them as he called for the suspension of the demonstrations and an end to “bloodshed”, in his first public comments since protests broke out last week.
In his televised address on Sunday, Tinubu called for an end to violence in several states since the protests started, saying he was always open to dialogue.
Rights group Amnesty International has accused security forces of killing at least 13 protesters, while police say seven people died and deny responsibility.
“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,” Tinubu said.
“But we must not let violence and destruction tear our nation apart,” he added.
In office since May 2023, Tinubu 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.
Thousands of people began taking to the streets on August 1 to protest against government policies and the high cost of living. They also mobilised online to demand a cut in petrol prices and electricity tariffs, among several demands.
Reacting to Tinubu’s address, Lagos-based activist Opeyemi Folarin said the speech was “underwhelming”.
“If he was willing for dialogue, he should have made a concession,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that protesters were determined to continue until the government acted on their demands.
“It is non-negotiable.”
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from a small protest in Lagos, said that while Tinubu’s government is making reforms a centrepiece in his government, the president in his speech “did not address the fundamental demand of the protesters”, in particular the reinstatement of fuel subsidies.
“People are really desperate for relief, and that is why people are going to continue to demand for quicker reforms and government action to ease the pain,” he said.
Police in Nigeria said they had arrested nearly 700 people in the first two days of the protests, accusing them of “armed robbery, arson, mischief” and destroying property.
Amnesty has urged police to release demonstrators and refrain from firing live rounds to break up crowds.
On Friday, it said “security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty”.
In his address, Tinubu said: “Security operatives should continue to maintain peace, law, and order in our country following the necessary conventions on human rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory.”
He also said the government was 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.
Government revenues had more than doubled to 9.1 trillion naira ($5.55bn) in the first half of this year while 68 percent of revenue now went to debt servicing, down from 97 percent before Tinubu took office in May last year.
