Tinubu’s Broadcast Met Protesters’ Demands, Says Okupe

A former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe, says President Bola Tinubu did not disappointed Nigerians in his nationwide broadcast on Sunday to address the ongoing hunger protests in the country.

Okupe made this remark on his X handle on Sunday, saying Tinubu outlined the efforts being made by his administration to address the problems raised by the protesters.

The magazine reports that angry Nigerians have taken to major cities in the country to draw the administration’s attention to the economic hardship in the country.

Tinubu’s broadcast, according to the critics of the administration, seriously failed to calm frayed nerves, and have even stoked more anger among not a few Nigerian which described the president to be very insensitive.

For instance, literary icon, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Sunday, criticised President Tinubu for not addressing the protesters core demands, and security agencies highhandedness against the protest.

Reacting, Okupe said the president stated in his address the economic challenges inherited by the administration, and efforts being made to resolve them.

He said, “President Bola Tinubu’s speech has not disappointed Nigerians in that for the first time, the president clearly stated the daunting economic situation his administration met on ground at inception.

“He also amplified the strenuous efforts made by his government to reduce the prevailing crippling and stagnating debt servicing ratio from 97 per cent of earned revenue to 68 per cent.

“In truth, this has been the major cause of our present economic woes and sufferings. It is now self-evident that if the fuel subsidy was not removed, it would have been impossible for the government to function.

“And the government will not be able to meet its obligations, without continuing the profligacy of massive and sustained borrowing to fund the subsequent national budgets,” Mr Okupe said.

After dumping the Labour Party recently Okupe has been trenchantly criticised for becoming one of the ‘unofficial’ spokesperson of the Tinubu administration.