By Adadareporters
Some youths residing in Awka, the Anambra State capital, weekend, advised President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to be moderate in his harsh economic policies to avoid the repeat of the #EndSARS protest where Nigerian youths took to streets to demand an end to the dreadful activities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police.
Some of the youths interviewed claim that Tinubu’s policies, especially the rising cost of petroleum products, has ‘destroyed’ their means of livelihood.
Samson Okoye is a Keke rider at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. He said, “We are presently doing nothing. Students are not ready to pay more than N100 for a ride, and the price of PMS is now above N620. We only come out to while away time, no more. The frustration is much, and I still don’t know Tinubu’s plan. Is he angry or in a hurry?”
A barber, Osmond Mbah, said, “We have increased the cost of hair-cut from N300 to N600, but nobody comes. The patronage has fallen drastically. Many students and indeed residents ‘barb’ themselves using razor blades and personal clippers. We are in trouble. All this started the day Tinubu started to be president. I fear that his policies might increase crimes because youths must survive. If he has advisers, let them advise him well. We don’t want unrest.”
A motor mechanic, Nicolas Uka, complained that car owners have started abandoning their vehicles. He said, “Most of our customers are civil servants. With the increasing prices of petroleum products, most of them don’t drive again. We come out nowadays only to sweep our shops. Tinubu should change his patterns otherwise Nigeria will burn. Nothing is moving forward again.”
Our correspondent reports that Tinubu’s announcement that there was no provision for fuel subsidy in this year’s budget during his inaugural speech on May 29 instantly increased the price per litre of fuel from about N220 to over N500. The price last week rose to N617.
