Afrobeat musician and activist Seun Kuti has called on the Federal Government to listen to protesters across the nation and meet their demands and avoid taking decisions based on the belief that it had the trust of the people.
“This government should not act as if people trust them,” he said during an appearance on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics. “They should not wear that toga for themselves. That is what I am saying.”
His comments were in response to the fact that protests have continued across states in the country even though the government has argued that it has agreed to meet the demands of the protesters and that it has met most of them.
Kuti, however, believe that the government does not fully get what is being demanded and what the protest is about.
“People should not sit in their high offices in Abuja. Bring yourself off your high horse. Come and relate with the people that just voted for you. Come and really hear what is going on,” he said.
The protests in the country followed continued reports of brutality by officials of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) despite past reforms announced by the government.
This is part of the reason for distrust in the latest decisions by the government, according to him.
“They have done judicial enquiry against SARS two years ago, what came out of it? It was this same government,” he said.
On Sunday last week, the government had dissolved the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in response to a core demand by protesters but its decision to quickly name a replacement for the unit called SWAT along with the brutality policemen meted out on protesters among other issues, caused the protest to continue.
The continuing protest had led some government officials to allege that the protests have been hijacked but the Afrobeat star dismissed claims and urged the government to rather view it as an opportunity.
“Don’t feel victimized, don’t think there is somebody trying to get you. No. These are your people trying to talk to you,” he said.
“This is actually a moment that we can actually build a bridge (between the government and the people), but they don’
