By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Omeiza Ajayi, Ozioruza Aliu & Gift Odekina, Abuja
ABUJA — In the wake of growing hardship in the country and calls for a nationwide protest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the Federal Government yesterday pleaded with Nigerians for more time, promising to handle the protest as a ‘’family matter.”
It also pledged to resolve all issues in a manner that will ensure the peace and stability of the nation.
The government’s position came on a day South-East governors advised aggrieved Nigerians not to go ahead with the nationwide protests, saying the country was too tense for such protests.
This is even as the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, asked both the federal and state governments to listen to the cries of the people and warned against the use of brute force to suppress the protest.
Similarly, the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives called on the Federal Government to dialogue with planned protesters to address their concerns, while human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN, warned the government against threatening organisers of the planned protests.
‘Family matter’
Speaking after a meeting of members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, at the instance of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume, yesterday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said in a brief interview: “We came together to discuss. You can see that this is not happening at the council chambers, it is happening in the office of the SGF and many of the ministers are here.
“We have discussed issues of national interest and all of us are working for Nigeria and we hope and believe Nigeria is going to be great again.
“No one is going to sleep. Those who are agitating and asking for protests are Nigerians, they are our brothers, they are our sisters, they are all Nigerians and those in positions of authority – the ministers, the President, everybody, we are all Nigerians too.
“So, this is a family matter. This is a Nigerian family issue and all of us are looking at this issue very well and we hope that peace will prevail at the end of the day.”
Asked if the government had been engaging with the stakeholders and organizers of the planned protest, Idris said engagement had always been an ongoing thing.
“This is not a peculiar situation, engagement has been ongoing. The President has met severally with all key stakeholders. I have also been meeting with stakeholders, other government functionaries have also been meeting with other key stakeholders.
“Engagement is going to continue and in the interest of Nigeria, we will continue to engage. We know this is the only country that all of us have and at the end of the day, Nigeria is going to be better for all of us for it,” he stated.
On alleged insistence by some top Nigerians, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, that the protests must go on, Idris said the senior lawyer is entitled to his opinion in a democracy.
“He (Falana) is an individual. This is a democracy, everyone is entitled to his opinion. The protesters are also Nigerians, this is a democratic situation. What I keep saying is that we are all Nigerians and we are all acting in the interest of Nigeria, but suffice to say that yesterday, (Tuesday) Mr President said there is no need for any protest, let us calm down.
“A lot is happening, Nigeria is going to move and march on and we believe that whatever government comes out with will be in the interest of Nigeria. We don’t think there is need for any protest, we are appealing for calm, we are appealing for a peaceful resolution or peaceful approach to any issue.
“If you have anything you want to put out there, you are free to put it out there but government is insisting that we are all Nigerians, we have to be calm, we have to be patient and suffice it to say let us give peace a chance.
“Mr President is working round the clock, his ministers are working, everyone is working, all hands are on deck.
“Like I said yesterday (Tuesday), everyone is listening; we are all listening, the President is listening and he has a message for all Nigerians. That message is that they should all calm down, they should please give the man more time. Everything they asked for, all their pleas will be answered,” he added.
Some of the ministers who attended the meeting include Nyesom Wike (FCT); Yusuf Tuggar (Foreign Affairs); Zephaniah Jisalo (Special Duties); Tahir Mamman (Education); and Abubakar Bagudu (Budget and Planning).
Others are Wale Edun (Finance); Mohammed Idris (Information); Bello Matawalle (Defence); David Umahi (Works); and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, among others.
S-East govs warn against protests
Reacting to the situation yesterday, South-East governors advised aggrieved Nigerians against going ahead with the protest scheduled to commence on August 1 and continue for 10 days.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, said it is too early to start agitating against the Tinubu administration over the economic downturn that is, according to him, also affecting other parts of the world.
Uzodimma, who was at the State House to present the newest defector to the All Progressives Congress, APC, from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, to President Tinubu, contended that no tenable reasons were being proferred by organisers of the protest.
Recall that Senator Anyim is a former President of the Senate and also Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, to the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Uzodimma noted that given the fragile state of the nation at the moment, the protest could be hijacked by unscrupulous persons to cause mayhem, as was experienced during the #EndSARS protests.
He said: “Democracy is about opinion of the people and protest is allowed in a democratic setting. Every protest must be reasonably conceived to be able to make political sense. I think it is too early at this time in the life of this government for anybody to come out to say he wants to protest.
“First of all, there has no engagement where those who are sponsoring the protest were able to tell us the reasons for the protests. Secondly, given the global situation today and the insecurity in the country, we have a very fragile political environment that if not managed and protected very well, may collapse the entire country.
“So those who are going to protest, what is the reason for the protests? If they have no reason for the protests, I think our advise is that the protest should not hold. Some of us have paid the supreme price for the existence of this country, we should guard our country very jealously.
“I think it is the wrong time for anybody to do any protests because the implication of doing that, if care is not taken, is that it may be hijacked like the #EndSARS experience where criminals hijacked an innocently conceived agitation by young Nigerians.
“So, this is another kind of temptation that I think those behind the protests should ponder over, especially as they have not been able to come out openly to say they are behind it, there is a motive that is yet to be unraveled.
“We are not in support of the protest, we are not going to support any protest that has no programme, that is not discussed, that nobody knows what the problem is.
“Okay, if you are protesting, what do you want the government to do? Because the reason for protests is you want an issue to be addressed. What are the issues?
“So in my view, I think there is no need to overheat the polity, overheat our environment and put our people in a position where the hardship that is occasioned by economic recession all over the world is further worsened. I advise against the protests.”
We can’t withdraw from protest we didn’t organise — Labour
Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday debunked reports that it had pulled out of the planned nationwide protest, saying it could not have withdrawn from a protest it did not organise.
The NLC also advised the federal government and sub-national governments to listen to the cries of hungry Nigerian people and do the needful.
In a statement signed by the President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, NLC further reiterated the earlier call by the labour movement on government to dialogue with the organizers of the protest, warning that any resort to the use of brute force would be counter-productive.
The statement, entitled “The Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest it did not organise,” read:
“A news report of the withdrawal of the Nigeria Labour Congress from the widely discussed national protest has been brought to our attention. The Nigeria Labour Congress debunks such story as patently false.
“The truth is that the Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest it did not organise. It is only the organisers of the speculated national protest can decide to pull out or continue with the protest.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress has internal trade union mechanisms, especially leadership decision-making processes that its industrial actions, such as protests, pass through before such activities are undertaken.
“Yet, the fact that the Nigeria Labour Congress is not the body organising the protest does not mean organised labour is oblivious of the dire living conditions Nigerians have been subjected to by the harsh economic policies of government.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress stands in solidarity with the Nigerian people in this very trying and excruciating times.
“Pursuant to proactive engagement with the issues canvassed by the protest organisers, we have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leaders of the protest movement to dialogue on their demands.
“We have advised that it would be counter-productive for government to meet the widespread anger in the land with brute force.
“Once again, we implore the federal government and sub-national governments to listen to the cries of the Nigerian people and do the needful. After all, it is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Threats won’t work, Falana tells govt
Similarly, human rights activist, Femi Falana, cautioned the Federal Government against threatening the organisers of the planned nationwide protest over the harsh economic climate in the country.
Falana, who gave the warning in an interview on Channels Television, said: “But threats do not work. In fact, on some occasions, the desperation of the government also has a way of popularizing such protests.”
He asked the Federal Government to identify the leaders of the planned protest and dialogue with them, instead of threats.
“So, this time around, the government should try to identify the leaders of the movement and then engage them, and then the questions be raised. Some demands are being made, and the government should address these demands.
“Between now and the first of August is still a long way and I understand the government is going to address the nation.
“It is also important for governors to really come out and let the people know what they are doing to address hardship in the country which nobody is denying,” Falana said.
FG should engage in dialogue, says Reps minority caucus
In its reaction, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives called on the Federal Government to dialogue with planned protesters to address their concerns.
Speaking with reporters after a meeting in Abuja, chairman of the caucus, Kingsley Chinda, however discouraged the planned protest, especially in view of the insecurity in some parts of the country.
He said: “We also appeal to the government to dialogue with the planned protesters and look at some of the messages they are raising, the critical areas that need government’s intervention.
“Government should intervene and ensure issues are resolved amicably. We are not going to encourage any protesters because in the past, we have observed in most cases that even peaceful protests have been overtaken by hoodlums and with the insecurity situation in some parts of the country, you may not have control of the gathering of people.
“So some unscrupulous people may use the opportunity to create chaos. Therefore, we are discouraging any protest but we appeal to government to dialogue and also look at critical areas that are necessary and address them amicably.”
Chinda called on the government to adopt the carrot-and-stick method in addressing the problem of insecurity in the country.
“We acknowledge and observe the insecurity situation in the country and call on the government to use carrot-and-stick by ensuring that the result is seen and felt by the people. Let all the security chiefs do what is right to ensure Nigerians are protected,” he said.
The caucus also called on the government to create means to ensure citizens were self-reliant in a bid to tackle the economic downturn in the country.
He added: “We also acknowledged in our discussion that there is hunger in the land and we appeal to the government not only to be giving palliatives but to also create ways and means whereby people can be self-reliant.”
APC NWC summons emergency meetings with state chairmen
Meanwhile, the National Working Committee, NWC, of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, also yesterday summoned an emergency meeting of all its state chairmen to discuss ways of staving off the planned nationwide protests against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
National Secretary of the party, Ajibola Basiru, said the decision was taken at the 153rd meeting of the NWC which held in Abuja.
He said the NWC joined the president to passionately appeal to those who are planning protests to shelve their plans and have confidence and belief in the government to address most of the economic challenges facing the nation.
Basiru said: “The NWC also noted that since coming on board in 2023, the government met quite a number of challenges, especially economic challenges, and Mr President is gradually implementing programmes and policies that would in the nearest future, bring succour and relief to the citizens.
“The meeting also highlighted that most of the economic challenges are global issues, and can only be addressed after thorough brain-storming.
“The NWC also noted that some of the issues highlighted by the protesters are political, while others are constitutional matters that can only be addressed through the amendment of the constitution, which is on-going at the National Assembly.
“The meeting therefore, urged all those planning the protests to have confidence in Mr President’s unrelentless efforts at repositioning the economy, while assuring Nigerians that the challenges will sooner or later come to pass.
“The meeting urged parents and well-meaning Nigerians to monitor the movement of their children/wards so that they will not be used in causing chaos in the country.
“The NWC further called for an emergency meeting of Chairmen of the APC in all the 36 states of the federation for further discussions.”
Shelve protest, be patient with Tinubu, Oba of Benin appeals to organisers
Also reacting yesterday, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, appealed to those planning the protest to shelve it and be patient with President Tinubu to fix some of the country’s challenges.
The Oba in a statement, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Osaigbovo Iguobaro, urged aggrieved Nigerians to give the federal government enough time to implement its economic policy, which is expected to alleviate the present hardship being experienced by them.
The statement read: “Arising from the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, NCTRN, held in Abuja on Monday, July 22, 2024, the Omo N’Oba wishes to appeal to the general public to give the federal government enough time to implement its economic policy that will alleviate the present hardship being experienced by Nigerians. For things to get better, it has to be rough for a while.
“The Omo N’Oba, therefore, appeals to those planning the August 1 nationwide protest to shelve the plan. The Omo N’Oba also appeals to the federal government to intensify efforts in the implementation of its economic and security policies.”
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