BY PELUMI BOLAWA AND MUHIBAT SULAIMON
On Thursday, some Nigerians commenced a nationwide protest against economic hardship and soaring inflation in various parts of the country. The demonstration aimed to #EndBadGovernance. Morufat Sikiru, an elderly woman, was however the cynosure of all eyes at the protest ground along the Kudirat Abiola Way in Ikeja, Lagos after she was spotted wailing about the severe hunger in the land.
The Yoruba woman, who appeared to be in her early 60s, broke down in tears as she made a prolonged high-pitched sound “Ebi o! Ebi o!” — which translates to “Hunger o! Hunger o!” in English. She also appealed to the federal government to reduce the prices of food items and improve the economy.
Sikiru’s ululation attracted a mixed bag of reactions; some Nigerians like singer Oxlade offered to gift her N500,000, while Reno Omokri, ex-aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, questioned her motives after allegedly spotting a sachet of Action Bitters, an alcoholic drink, on one of her hands.
SPOTTED: WOMAN WITH THE EMPTY POT
The woman who protested with an empty pot is back at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos.
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But speaking with TheCable Lifestyle on Saturday, the Oyo-born Lagosian revealed that she took the empty pot to the protest ground because she had already “surrendered to hunger”.
Sikiru said the pot “symbolises my business” which she lamented has not been in an enviable condition due to lack of capital.
“I went out to protest with an empty pot because I had already given up. I don’t have any capital to continue my business and I thought at least I’m Nigerian as well so I went out to join the protest,” she said.
“The empty pot I took along for the protest symbolises my business I could not continue”.
Asked about her plans for the N500,000 offered to her by Oxlade, she said: “I will use it to start up my business again so I will not continue to suffer”.
“I also have the intention to be part of the protest till the last day. The government should have mercy on the citizens,” she added.
“We can no longer eat beans anymore. Rice, everything is very expensive. I can not afford to buy beans anymore. So they should restore the state of the economy to how it was before.”
The #EndBadGovernance demonstrations turned violent in some northern states, with security operatives dispersing protesters with tear gas canisters in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna.
But in a nationwide broadcast on August 4, President Bola Tinubu said he had heard the protesters “loud and clear”.
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