Damilare Olaiya, a Nigerian actor, has taken aim at his colleagues who back President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Olaiya, best known for his part in Wale Adenuga’s Nigerian anthology television drama series ‘Super Story,’ spoke at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos, during the recent #EndBadGovernance protest.
Olaiya told News Central that he joined the rally to voice his concerns about weak governance, corruption, and rising living costs.
The actor stated that he is prepared to “die if necessary” in order to fight for a better future for his children and grandchildren.
The actor also criticized his colleagues who support Tinubu’s regime, claiming that they “are now hiding their faces online” to avoid public reaction.
“We are saying that bad governance must end. The problems of Nigeria are not intractable. They are human problems and we can solve them if we end bad governance, bad leaders,” he said.
“For my colleagues, a lot of them that have taken the side of government, their comment sections have been put off. I do not want to mention names. Some of our veteran Nollywood actresses who supported this government are hiding their faces today. They cannot get the backlash from Nigerians.
“But I am telling you, for those of us who still believe in this country, for those of us who have continuously fought, from the time I was an undergraduate, to the time before I got married, to the time I got married, to the time I had my children, to the time my children started having their own children. Today I am a grandfather, I am still in this struggle. I am telling you, even if they end our lives bad governance must end. We are prepared to die.
“For the #EndSARS protest, the world knows that it was the government that sponsored thugs, put them in Lagos BRT vehicles to come to attack protesters. You can see now that we are peaceful, singing that bad governance must end.
“If the government wants to tell the soldiers to start shooting us, we will die, but we know that the soldiers too will die one day. The people that send them too will die. This life that I have is for Nigeria, for my children’s children and I am ready to die if need be.”
The #EndBadGovernance demonstrations, which began on August 1, became violent in various northern states, with security personnel using tear gas canisters to disperse demonstrators in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Kaduna.
In a nationwide broadcast on August 4, President Bola Tinubu stated that he had heard the demonstrators “loud and clear”.
He also urged for a halt to the protest “so that we can make room for dialogue, to which I have always agreed at every opportunity.”
Some actors who supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election have always been harshly criticized for the current administration’s actions.
The backlash intensified recently as a result of Nigeria’s continuous economic distress.
