Former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of stifling civic freedoms and eroding citizens’ rights.
In a 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 condemned what she described as a “deeply troubling trend” of shrinking civic space and state intolerance of dissent.
She called on Tinubu to immediately order the Inspector-General of Police to release activist Omoyele Sowore and his colleagues.
The former minister alao urged Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to publicly apologise to EiE Nigeria’s Executive Director, Yemi Adamolekun, and another activist, Ms Nafziger.
“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,” she wrote.
Ezekwesili cited three “disturbing cases,” including the harassment of Adamolekun during a peaceful memorial for #EndSARS victims, the police clampdown on protesters supporting Nnamdi Kanu, and the repeated arrest of Sowore despite a valid court order granting him bail.
According to her, the pattern reveals “an unmistakable dangerous trend” of an administration “intolerant of dissent, allergic to accountability, and fearful 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,” Ezekwesili said.
The former minister urged Nigerians to rise in defence of their democratic rights, stressing that sovereignty belongs to the people and 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 said.
“We must collectively safeguard our right to speak, assemble, and demand accountability. Our democracy must not become a democracy without citizens.”
