Activist wants protesters flying Russian flag prosecuted

By Cletus Opukeme, Warri

A Delta State-born environmental and peace advocate, Chief Mulade Sheriff, has added his voice in reaction to the waving of the Russian flag by some protesters of the #EndBadGovernance protest by calling on the Federal Government to “investigate and bring the culprits to book immediately to avoid a reoccurrence.”

Chief Mulade, who is the National Coordinator of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, also listed five key areas the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government needed to address to lessen the hardship that is currently experienced in the country.

On the Russian flag episode, the CEPEJ boss opined that the “waving of Russian flag is a treasonable offence with strong implications for Nigeria” and stressed that the #EndBadGovernance protest has “nothing to do with waving of any other nation’s flag” as Nigeria is a sovereign nation that have its own internal socio-economic issues.

Chief Mulade, who is the Ibe-Sorimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Warri South-West council area of Delta State, called on the federal government not to sweep the incident under the carpet but to investigate the action devoid of political undertone as “It has grave implications… because of our sovereignty and security of our nation”.

On the ongoing protest, the peace advocate, while noting that more than 80 percent of Nigerians are involved in the protest, listed five key areas as part of measures to ameliorate the economic hardship.

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He said, “The Federal Government must take drastic steps to address the critical economic hardship raised by Nigerians; it is imperative to state that over 80% of Nigerians are involved directly or indirectly in the protest because of economic hardship, therefore government should not undermine the demands and concerns raised to avoid reoccurrence.

“I strongly appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for the sake of Nigerians to reconsider a reversal of the pump price premium motor spirit (PMS) for a period of about 6 months pending when Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries are functional;

“The Federal government should, as a matter of urgency, tackle and end security challenges to guarantee food availability and security, especially for our farmers;

“The Federal Government should show exemplary leadership by cutting down the cost of governance, followed by state governors etc;

“The Federal Government laudable educational initiative will be more appreciative by all if the student loan scheme can be redirected as a “Student Educational Support Programme” to encourage the youth, especially students

“The Federal Government should genuinely strengthen the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission (ICPC) to end corruption irrespective of political affiliation, if we must survive and build a nation for the future,” he stressed.