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![President Bola Tinubu welcomed by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State. [X, formerly Twitter]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "President Bola Tinubu welcomed by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State. [X, formerly Twitter]")
Okonkwo described the speech as "bland and uninspiring," stating that it failed to meet the demands of the Nigerian populace.
"The people are protesting for hunger and hardship, deprivation and degradation. And the president was compelled to speak.
"I wish they did not compel him. If I were a media aide, I would have preferred there was no speech at all because a bad speech is worse than no speech at all," Okonkwo said on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily.
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Tinubu's leaked speech
Okonkwo also pointed out that the speech was leaked before its official release, calling for dismissing some of the president's media aides.
He emphasised that President Tinubu should have addressed the protesters' demands, suggesting that the government reverse the decision to buy a new presidential jet and reduce the size of the cabinet.
"The government should return the subsidies on petrol and electricity tariff because subsidy itself is a palliative," Okonkwo argued, adding that the current administration has depreciated the standard of living in Nigeria.
He called for the restoration of productivity through a business-friendly environment.
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Prominent figures such as Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, senior lawyer Femi Falana, and representatives from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) have also criticised Tinubu's speech, echoing Okonkwo's sentiments on the inadequacy of the president's response to the protests.
![Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki [Facebook]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki [Facebook]")