Success Nwankwo
Kenneth Okonkwo, a former spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, has labeled President Bola Tinubu’s recent broadcast on the #EndBadGovernance protests as “bland and uninspiring.”
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Okonkwo expressed his dissatisfaction with the president’s speech, calling it vacuous and ineffective. “People are protesting hunger, hardship, deprivation, and degradation.” And the president felt forced to speak,” the lawyer explained.
Okonkwo said that President Tinubu should not have spoken at all. “I wish they had not compelled him. If I were a media aide, I would have preferred that there be no speech at all since a lousy speech is worse than no speech at all,” he said.
Adding to his criticism, Okonkwo revealed that the speech had been leaked prior to its official delivery, further diminishing its impact. He argued that this mishap was grounds for the dismissal of some of Tinubu’s media aides.
Okonkwo also criticised the government’s policy measures, specifically the elimination of petrol subsidies and their replacement with palliatives, which he argued were insufficient and poorly distributed. “Subsidy itself is a palliative,” he claimed, pushing for the return of subsidies on petrol and power tariffs as a more effective way of relieving Nigerians’ economic burden.
The #EndBadGovernance protests have highlighted widespread dissatisfaction with the current administration, with citizens calling for urgent and meaningful reforms to address their grievances.