On Wednesday, angry youths, students, motorists, and traders took to the streets in Delta and Ekiti states to protest the fuel and naira scarcity that has caused significant hardship for many Nigerians in recent weeks. In Ekiti, students from the state university in Ado Ekiti demonstrated against the fuel scarcity-induced increase in transport fares. These students, who reside in Ado Ekiti and Iworoko Ekiti, expressed their inability to afford the new fare of N400, which represents a 100 percent increase from the previous N200 fare. They barricaded Iworoko Road, which leads to the campus, and occupied the university gate to prevent access to the school.
Tensions escalated when mini-bus operators servicing the route from Ado Ekiti insisted that the previous fare and seating arrangements were no longer viable due to the fuel scarcity and the long queues at petrol stations. Dotun Ogunsanya, the President of the Student Union Government, defended the students’ actions, stating, “What you have seen today is a reaction to the change in fare to and from school from N200 to N400 by the commercial transport operators.” In response to the protests, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Edward Olanipekun, announced three “lecture-free days” effective Wednesday. He indicated that the school management would use this time to engage with local transport operators to address the issue. Bode Olofinmuagun, the Head of EKSU Directorate of Corporate Affairs, noted that the lecture-free days were declared due to the national fuel crisis, which has led to a dramatic increase in transport fares, making it difficult for many students and staff to reach the campus.
Meanwhile, in Delta State, a similar scene unfolded as angry youths, human rights activists, motorists, and traders blocked the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba, the state capital, to protest the scarcity of fuel and new naira notes. The protesters carried placards with various messages and called for a better Nigeria, demanding a reduction in the cost of living for citizens. They also called for sanctions against bank managers in the state for hoarding the new naira notes and urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to intervene and find an urgent solution to the ongoing fuel scarcity. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr. Ukuanove Odimbu, the Africa Democratic Party’s House of Representatives candidate in the state, highlighted the unbearable hardship faced by ordinary citizens due to the fuel price hike and the hoarding of new naira notes.
Comments are closed for this story.