CurrentReport Blog The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticized the Federal Government for allegedly spreading panic and increasing public tension ahead of a planned nationwide protest. The association has called for responsible leadership and condemned what it describes as “cheap, unsubstantiated claims” and false intelligence aimed at discrediting peaceful protests against bad governance, corruption, and widespread hunger.
HURIWA’s national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, urged President Bola Tinubu to instruct his appointees to cease the dissemination of misinformation. “The fear by the central and state governments about the imminent nationwide protests by some aggrieved Nigerians said to be commencing on August 1st, has made several government officials at both the federal and sub-national levels to continuously stoke social tensions through all kinds of statements and claims that are absolutely unscientific and totally unacceptable,” Onwubiko stated.
The association’s statement comes in response to remarks by the Minister of State for Youth Development, Olawande Ayodele, who advised Nigerian youths not to be influenced by social media content, suggesting that much of it is politically motivated misinformation aimed at tarnishing the Tinubu administration’s reputation. Ayodele made this appeal during a visit from the Renewed Hope Ambassadors of Nigeria, led by veteran Nollywood actor Zack Orji, in Abuja.
HURIWA, however, argues that the persistent spread of false information by government officials is undermining the constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful demonstrations. “The persistent dissemination of misinformation by government officials aimed at demonising the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms to hold peaceful demonstrations when the people are aggrieved about bad governance in the country, has contributed to the heightened state of fear, apprehensions, and panic by Nigerians who expect that government officials ought to play the role of stabilising and good forces rather than agents of misinformation, peddling false information and unsubstantiated intelligence,” the statement said.
HURIWA also challenged Ayodele’s claims about social media misinformation, pointing to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics that designates Nigeria as the world’s poverty capital, with over 133 million people living in multidimensional poverty. “Is this minister of state for Youth development Mr. Olawande Ayodele residing in outer space for him not to be aware that the costs of living crisis is factually and existentially true in Nigeria?” HURIWA questioned.
The association highlighted the widespread inability of many Nigerians to afford essential commodities due to soaring prices, emphasizing the need for truthful and constructive engagement from government officials rather than fear-mongering and misinformation.
