#EndBadGovernance Remains Necessary Until Victory for the Working Masses

By Lateef Adams

After a series of adjournments and repeated rescheduling since September 2024, the long and unjust treason trial of the eleven End Bad Governance protesters has finally been laid to rest on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court struck out the baseless case, bringing an end to nearly a year and a half of state-sponsored intimidation.

Outrageous Allegations

The eleven comrades, including Daniel Akande, a leading member of the Movement for a Socialist Alternative (ISA–Nigeria) and the Publicity Secretary of the Solidarity Network for Workers’ Rights SNWR, were dragged through the courts on outrageous allegations: treason, intent to destabilize Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony, and other fabricated charges. But in reality, their only “offence” was that they dared to stand with millions of ordinary Nigerians in a peaceful nationwide protest. The protest, tagged #EndBadGovernance, which took place between August 1 and 10, 2024, was a genuine uprising of the oppressed, driven by hunger, unbearable living conditions, and the anti-people policies of the Tinubu regime.
Astronomic Price Hikes
During that period, the Tinubu government inflicted on the working people of Nigeria a severe hardship as a result of its capitalist and corrupt neoliberal policies. The regime had increased the price of petroleum products such as petrol over 400%, and also devalued the naira, resulting in astronomic hikes in the cost of major life necessities. The cost of living has become unbearable, and the masses of working people are seeking a way out from the capitalist crisis.

The Tinubu government’s response to the sufferings it inflicted was only what it called “palliative” by distributing some amount of rice to people, in a few of the states. This palliative approach led to the deaths of hundreds of Nigerians as a result of stampedes at most of the venues. This corrupt gesture from the corrupt ruling elites only fuels anger and widespread hunger and economic crisis, which contributed to the spread of the idea of the need for the Nigerian masses to fight back against the anti working class policies of the Tinubu regime. The news of nationwide protest against hunger and bad governance spread fast and became crucial as a result of the state of hunger the government imposed.

Fear of Protests 
The Tinubu government did everything within its power to stop the protest even before it began. In the days leading up to August 1, the presidency held marathon meetings with the security agencies, traditional rulers, party chieftains, government loyalists, and every layer of the ruling elite they could gather. From late-night strategy sessions to emergency meetings, the regime was desperate and searching for ways to intimidate the people and douse the anger rising across the country. But despite all this desperate manoeuvring, none of their plans materialised.

In a further attempt to weaken the protest, the government rushed to the courts to secure orders restricting demonstrations in Lagos and Abuja to isolated, confined locations, a barbaric tactic used to cage dissent and prevent mass gatherings. Yet even with these repressive orders, the determination of the masses proves far stronger than the regime’s legal and political manipulations. They also militarised every corner of the country, deploying soldiers and riot police as if preparing for war, but on August 1, the nation was shut down, with every sector of the economy closed, and protests held in major state capitals. Despite the heavy security presence, demonstrations broke out in almost every state, with people boldly calling for an end to bad governance and an end to hunger.

Genuine Mass Protests
Mostly led by young people across different parts of the country, the protest grew stronger day after day, transforming into a genuine mass movement that unsettled and frightened the state. The sheer magnitude of support, from workers, students, artisans, and ordinary people pushed to the wall, forced the Tinubu regime to resort to repression. In panic, the government began to unleash the police against innocent protesters, hoping to break the momentum of a struggle that was clearly exposing the rot in the capitalist policies of the regime. As if that wasn’t enough, the government also hired thugs to attack protesters in Lagos and in some other states. As all these efforts were made to subdue the growing anger. 

Arrests and Killings
It was during this period that some of the leaders of the protest were targeted and arrested. Starting with Michael Lenin and some others. Many minors were arrested in the northern part of the country for alleged waving of foreign flags during the protest. The events that followed showed that the government was ready to silence dissent and to impose a widespread and violent crackdown on protesters nationwide. Sporadic shooting and reckless use of teargas against protesters was the order of the day. According to the Amnesty International investigation, at least 24 protesters were killed in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger and Bornu states, and 1200 protesters arrested and detained by security agencies.

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, comrade Daniel Akande was brazenly abducted by the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at the church premises where he went for worship. The police officers, in a plot to take him away, lied to the church members that Daniel was guilty of murder, and that was how he was whisked away and detained at the IRT facility for several weeks without trial. This act is not just an abduction but a crime against innocent Nigerians seeking a better society for the vast majority of the working masses. Added to the list of arrested activists who led the protest, it was obvious that the state’s aim was never justice but punishment. The government sought to make an example of young activists, socialists, and working-class organisers just to frighten the masses into silence.

Solidarity Campaign
Comrades, friends, and supporters immediately understood the motive behind the government’s action and wasted no time in demanding the release of the arrested protesters. Numerous calls were made to the National Human Rights Commission, the press, and the international community to intervene and pressure the state to free all detainees. International Socialist Alternative organised protests and demonstrations at Nigerian embassies in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and several other parts of the world. These coordinated actions intensified the pressure on the regime, eventually forcing it to release the comrades, as well as the several arrested minors who were brought to court looking visibly malnourished and traumatised.

While the case has been struck out for lack of evidence, it is not yet uhuru. The struggle is only beginning, because the very conditions that produced the #EndBadGovernance protest are still firmly in place, and, for the mass of working-class people, things have even grown worse. This reality reinforces the urgent need to get better organised and to challenge the capitalist system that continues to generate economic crisis, aggravating poverty, and unbearable living conditions.

Need for Struggle
At present, the ruling elite are concerned only with how to cling onto office. They deploy public resources solely to consolidate themselves in power, with no regard whatsoever for the livelihood, safety, or dignity of ordinary people. Insecurity has worsened across the country, further exposing the extreme inequality embedded in the system. The corrupt capitalist programme of these elites is not the solution, and it will always get worse until the working masses seek the revolutionary alternative. 

We also use this moment to once again call on the trade unions to rise to their historic responsibility. The labour movement must begin concrete actions to confront this corrupt capitalist order that has pushed workers into abject economic misery. The recent increase in the minimum wage has already been rendered meaningless by the anti-worker policies of the Tinubu government.

More than ever, there is a need to build a genuine workers’ political alternative, armed with a socialist programme that will nationalise the commanding heights of the economy and place them under democratic workers’ management and control. Only such a programme can guarantee improved living conditions, real development, and a future that serves the interests of the vast majority rather than a tiny elite.