This was revealed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
Adesina says since the protests were carried out by only a few youths out of the 200 million Nigerians in the country, it was inconsequential.
He said: “Well, was it really a protest? By my estimation, it just seemed like a child’s play because protests by their very nature are spontaneous things, mass things. These are just a sprinkle of people trying to be funny. As far as I am concerned, it is nothing to worry about.
“A revolution is always a mass thing, not a sprinkle of young boys and girls you saw yesterday in different parts of the country. I think it was just a funny thing to call it a revolution protest.”
When asked if it was right for the Presidency to rubbish the protests of young Nigerians, Adesina remained adamant, saying the protests were nothing but irritation and that he has the right to air his opinion.
“In a country of 200 million people and if you see a sprinkle of people saying they are doing a revolution, it was a child’s play,” he said.
When asked if the government determines the seriousness of a protest only by its size, Adesina responded, “Well, it will always matter because if you said it was a revolution, revolutions by definition are quite well known.
“Revolution is something that turns the normal order. What happened yesterday, would you call it a revolution? It was just an irritation, just an irritation and some people want to cause irritation in the country and what I will say is when things boil over, they boil over because you continue to heat them.
“When you see pockets of heating up in the country, eventually they culminate in a boiling over. So, Nigerians need to know that the country we get is what we use our hands to build.”
The president’s spokesman also said the issues such as insecurity, corruption, poverty, and rights abuse were worldwide problems and because of that, the protests were misguided.
When further asked if the government would clamp down the protests, he said “The government will do whatever is right, whatever is required to maintain peace.
The presidential aide disclosed that the President recognises the problems and understands that the problems cannot be tackled in one swoop.
