If More Nigerians Speak Up, Govt Will Listen – CUPP

The National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Peter Ameh, has urged Nigerians to speak up against the economic hardship affecting daily lives.

Naijaonpoint reports that Ameh said the corps member, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, known as Raye, who called President Bola Tinubu a terrible president, as a result of hardship, was within her rights.

In an interview with News Central on Monday, the CUPP National Secretary stated that Raye’s complain of hardship and the high cost of items in the market were a daily experience of every Nigerian.

He warned against any move to move the country into a dictatorial territory that kills dissent voices. Ameh called on Nigerians to learn from Raye’s courage and speak up.

He stressed that it was the duty of government to provide good governance to citizens.

His words: “People don’t know where it is to serve the Federal Republic of Nigeria or where it is to be loyal to people who superintend over the effects of the country. They have merged the two together and they don’t know where the loyalty to a country starts and ends and where loyalty to management or leadership of an institution or organization or a country is supposed to start and end. And so they have merged the two together which is causing them to trample upon the fundamental rights of citizens.

“Her (Raye) video is within our rights. Her video has not undermined anybody’s rights or gone against the concern of Nigeria. What she has really expressed is an opinion and something she’s experiencing as a Nigerian. And as a Nigerian, what the government and the chief executive officer are expected to deliver is good governance.

“If these things are not trickling down to the ordinary Nigerian, they hold that right to be able to say it. She’s voicing this out. If all Nigerians are courageous enough to be able to speak out about the unfair economic environment, the unfair political environment, and they are able to speak out. I think government will be able to listen more.

“If you have a system where dissent and freedom of speech are now seen as a crime, then it is a dangerous descent into dictatorial tendencies. And that should not be condoned by all well-meaning Nigerians.  We must be able to look at it, that what this young girl is saying is, not something that is out of the ordinary. Is it not what everyday Nigerian, including myself, experience? The cost of living has gone up. It has become more difficult for families to feed comfortably, for families to have their ends meet. Because of that, a lot of people might not have the access or the courage that she has had. And I think she should be commended for that courage or expression of her opinion.”