A potential confrontation looms today, June 12, as the Take It Back Movement moves forward with plans to stage protests at the National Assembly in Abuja and 19 other locations across Nigeria, marking the country’s 26th Democracy Day.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is scheduled to address a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives today as part of official celebrations. This follows the cancellation of his previously announced nationwide broadcast. According to a statement by Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the change was due to the President’s commitment to the National Assembly address.
In anticipation of the protests, security has been heightened across the country. The Take It Back Movement confirmed its intention to use the opportunity to highlight widespread public discontent over economic hardship, poverty, insecurity, and what it describes as a lack of democratic accountability under the current administration.
Originally slated for Eagle Square, Abuja, the protest location was changed, but organisers maintain that the National Assembly remains a legitimate and symbolic venue for public dissent.
Speaking ahead of the demonstration, National Coordinator of the movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, said, “Nigerians are fully within their constitutional rights to gather at the National Assembly and other locations to protest two years of misrule, hardship, and insecurity. The location has changed, but the objective remains.”
Sanyaolu emphasised that Nigerians are suffering under the weight of economic reforms and deteriorating security, stating that the protests are a response to “unprecedented hardship.” He encouraged citizens from all walks of life to join in demanding an end to what he termed “bad governance.”
“There’s nothing to fear anymore. Nigerians are already battered and broken. We are like people on the ground—we have no fear of falling. The time to act is now,” he said.
Despite reported attempts by security forces to intimidate and detain protest organisers in states including Lagos, Bauchi, Edo, Gombe, and Cross River, the Take It Back Movement has vowed to proceed with the protests. Sanyaolu accused law enforcement agencies of targeting coordinators but stressed that these actions would not deter their mission.
He warned security agencies, particularly the police, against infringing on the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly, urging them to respect constitutional freedoms.
With nationwide mobilisation underway, today’s Democracy Day could be marked by a significant wave of public dissent, coinciding with President Tinubu’s highly anticipated address from the National Assembly.
