Ahead of the planned nationwide protests by some Nigerians, particularly the youth, a pro-Lagos State Government X handle @lagospedia has announced two weeks observation of Oro Festival in various communities in Lagos.
According to Lagospedia, the festival will be observed from August 1 โ 15, calling the attention of residents and visitors to the upcoming festival.
The post read: โAttention Residents and Visitors of Lagos. Please be informed that the Oro Festival will be observed in various communities across Lagos from 1st of August to August 15.
โThis traditional Yoruba cultural event involves significant rituals.โ
The planned nationwide protest tagged โEnd Bad Government in Nigeriaโ, is scheduled to hold from August 1-10,2024.
The organisers of the protest in flyers circulating on social media are demanding judicial reform, a declaration of a state of emergency on inflation, reopening of the national borders, among others.
Reacting, an X user Akintola with the handle @Opemeepor accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to use the observation of Oro Festival to stop the planned protest.
Akintola said: โAPC used Oro festival to do rubbish during the electionsโฆnow they want to use it to stop the protestsโฆ These are the people some of you defend night and day.. Has to be madness.โ
Another X user, Rotimi Ebenezer with the handle @roebonline said: โOro Festival can only be observed when Nigeria is about to be liberated. During the election and now during nationwide protest. All I know is just that, all days are for the thieves while a day is for the owner. Nigeria will surely and definitely be liberated one day.โ
Akin Malaolu, also an X user, expressed optimism that the Oro Festival instead of discouraging people from protesting will even boost support for protesters.
โOro festival will help in the protest. Workers wonโt go out to work and markets will not open anywhere,โ Malaolu stated.
โAt the end, the Lagos State government would blame itself for helping out in the protest due to economic shutdown in the State. They just gave us a โBulletโ.
Lawrence Okoro, with the handle @LawrenceOkoroPG, posited that the Oro Festival is one of the pushbacks the government wants to use to counter the planned protest.
โWhen you give wicked Politicians too much time to think, this is what you get in return,โ Okoro claimed.
โYouโre dealing with the wickedest (sic) politicians in the world, but youโre putting out 2 weeks invitation like itโs a wedding ceremony.
โThe Oro Festival is one of the pushbacks theyโve come up with to counter the Protest.
โThese wicked Politicians were given too much time to strategize before anyone hit the street.
โTheyโve developed different mechanisms to frustrate the Protest, this is just one of them and Iโm sure they will keep rolling them out one after the other, on and before August 1st. I pray for the safety of everyone thatโs going out for the Protest.โ
On his part, the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, said: โThe โOro Festivalโ is about witnessing a revolutionary transformation; it is about seeing a real Festival โ the festival of the oppressed!โ
Although there is no statement from the Lagos State Government confirming or denying the Oro Festival announcement made by Lagospedia, there were 14.9k posts on the subject as at 11:45pm on Wednesday.
Out of concern for the potential dangers the proposed protest poses, so many appeals have been made by some influential Nigerians to the youth to call off the protest in the interest of the nation, and seek dialogue with the government.
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday pleaded with Nigerians to shelve the protest.
โOn the issue of the planned protest, Mr. President does not see any need for that. He asked them to shelve that plan and he has asked them to await governmentโs response to all their pleas.
โSo, there is no need for strike. The young people out there should listen to the President and allow the President more time to see to the realisation of all the goodies he has for them,โ said the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, after meeting with the president at the Aso Rock Villa.