Veteran Nollywood actor, Damilare Olaiya, has accused his colleagues who supported the administration of President Bola Tinubu of hiding their faces to avoid facing backslash from Nigerians.
Speaking during an interview with News Central, at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos during the #EndBadGovernance protest, the actor expressed willingness to “die if need be” in order to fight for a better future for his children and grandchildren.
Olaiya said he joined the protest to register his grievances with the federal government against poor governance, corruption, and the increasing cost of living in the country.
He also accused the government of sponsoring the thugs that marred the #EndSARS protest in 2020.
He said, “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.
“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.”