International human rights watch group, Amnesty International (AI) has slammed Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, for describing Nigerians as sore losers.
Amnesty International said Governor Dapo’s statement showed utter recklessness and insensitivity of Nigerian politicians to the pains and hunger of the citizens.
In a statement on Saturday, Amnesty added that citizens did not flood the streets to protest for political reasons as Dapo claimed but were pushed by hardship caused by the government’s economic policies.
“Amnesty International strongly condemns remarks by the Governor of Ogun State Dapo Abiodun who recklessly and insensitively said; “Nigerians are sore losers.” Reducing the protesters concerns on hunger and deep poverty to politics is an unacceptable deliberate false insinuation.
“People are on the streets not for politics, as the governor insinuated mischievously, but demanding better life and accountability, as Nigeria’s annual inflation hits new 28-year high of 33.95% in May, worsening hardships that drive millions of people to the brink of starvation Nigeria’s current economic chaos came with unprecedented inflation that triggers high cost of food, medicine and hike in electricity tariff and tuition fees of public universities. These are placing undue stress on families, businesses, and communities,” the statement read.
AI further advised Nigerian politicians and government functionaries to desist from making harmful rhetorics and delegitimizing the rights of citizens to demand good governance.
“Nigerian government officials and politicians must desist from harmful rhetorics aimed at delegitimizing peaceful protests and protesters. Instead, they should listen to critics and pay more attention to improving the rapidly declining living standard of Nigerians,” Amnesty added.
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