Activists under the aegies of the Centre for Advancement of Civil Liberties and Development, also known Centre for Liberty (CFL) have staged nationwide balloon protests on Independence Day against the plethora of anti-people policies and impunity under the regime of General Muhammadu Buhari.

The #NotYetIndependent protesters took to the streets in several locations across the six geo-political zones in the country, including Lagos, Benue, Bauchi, Iseyin, Auchi, and the FCT, Abuja. 

In a statement jointly signed by Adebayo Raphael, Ariyo-Dare Atoye and Deji Adeyanju; Co-conveners, Centre for Liberty, the group believes that things have gotten really bad for Nigerians economically, and that Nigeria’s democracy is being battered and her civic space is shrinking.

The statement reads in part:

“We recall that between March 19, 2020 and now, the price of petrol being sold to ordinary Nigerians has gone from 121.50Naira to 162Naira or more in some places. In the same vein, the tariff for electricity was increased by 100%, taking effect from September 1, 2020, and adding salt to the injury of economic hardship of Nigerians. And as if these weren’t enough, the government hurriedly passed a bill that will ensure the disappearance of the Third Sector in Nigeria into law; The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, was passed by the National Assembly and became law upon President Buhari’s assent on August 7, 2020. These unpleasant developments followed the lingering legislative consideration of the Social Media Bill and Hate Speech Bill seeking to criminalize freedom of expression and punish citizens for freely expressing themselves.

"The obnoxious provisions in the CAMA Act that undermines nongovernmental organizations, and also the entire provisions of the social media bill and hate speech bill, are legislations worse than colonial edicts and laws, and they seek to subjugate rightsholders and put them at mercies of the ruling elites.

"Balloons are often used to celebrate happy moments across the world. Our goal is to create a new and strong sense of awareness through the usage of Balloons for this nationwide protest: that while the rest of the world may be celebrating beautiful occurrences with balloons, Nigerians are in fact lamenting the state of the country with their own balloons.”

The protesters urged the federal government to completely reverse the Fuel Price Hike, Electricity Tariff Increase, and suspend the CAMA ACT, just as it urged the Nigerian Senate to kill the Hate Speech Bill and Social Media Bill.

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