Former Minister of Education, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of shrinking Nigeria’s civic space and suppressing citizens’ fundamental rights.
In a strongly worded post on X titled “A Memo to Nigerians: A Call to Collective Voice on the Shrinking Civic Space and Erosion of Citizens’ Rights in Nigeria,” Ezekwesili described recent government actions as “deeply troubling” and called for immediate redress.
She urged President Tinubu to direct the Inspector-General of Police to release activist Omoyele Sowore and his colleagues, while also demanding that Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, publicly apologise to EiE Nigeria’s Executive Director, Yemi Adamolekun, and another activist, Ms Nafziger, over alleged harassment during a peaceful #EndSARS memorial.
“The latest wave of actions against citizens by state security agencies reflects a deeply troubling trend — the steady shrinking of civic space and erosion of citizens’ fundamental rights in our democracy,” Ezekwesili stated.
She cited three “disturbing” incidents, including the police clampdown on protesters supporting Nnamdi Kanu and the repeated arrests of Sowore despite court orders granting him bail.
According to her, the pattern of events under the current administration “reveals an unmistakable dangerous trend of intolerance, allergy to accountability, and fear of citizens’ voices.”
“It is clear that President Tinubu is running a government and security apparatus that are increasingly intolerant of dissent. True strength of a government does not lie in its ability to suppress criticism, but in its capacity to protect the rights of those who speak truth to power,” she wrote.
Ezekwesili called on Nigerians to rise in defence of their democratic freedoms, insisting that sovereignty belongs to the people, not to government officials.
“Nigeria’s democracy cannot survive on the silencing of conscience. Every act of repression against one citizen diminishes the liberty of all,” she added.
