FG warns against mass protest over hardship, says Nigeria’s stability at stake

FG warns against mass protest over hardship, says Nigeria’s stability at stake

 

Nigeria’s stability may be seriously hampered should a nationwide protest being planned by some Nigerians from the beginning of next month over hardship be allowed to hold.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, said this in Abuja on Wednesday.

The SGF spoke when he met with ministers in his office behind closed doors on measures to avert the protest.

He called attention to the Kenya’s recent experience, where many were killed, property destroyed peace had eluded them.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammad Idris, who revealed Akume’s concern, gave a similar warning against the protest when he received members of the Charismatic Bishops Conference, led by Archbishop (Professor) Leonard Kawas, who were on a courtesy visit to him, at his office in Abuja.

Idris said government was bothered about the protest against economic hardship, having seen the consequences of similar protests in other parts of the world, particularly in Kenya and Bangladesh.

The minister said arsonists and criminals might be waiting to hijack the protest and unleash violence on innocent Nigerians.

Idris said, “Why everybody is very cautious and very weary of this national protest is because we have seen what has happened around the world.

“We know that it’s almost impossible to hold this protest and then have peace at the end of the day.

“We cannot do that because some people are waiting to take the laws into their own hands.”

He said while the government of President Bola Tinubu acknowledged the right of every Nigerian to engage in protests, it was equally committed to ensuring that the activities did not disrupt public order or violate the rights of others.

The minister said, “You see, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes in the freedom of everyone within the confirms of the law to do what he thinks is right for him.

“Therefore, the President is not an opponent of protest of any kind. But the President is an opponent of violence and anything that will hamper the wellbeing of Nigerians.

“He believes and he has always been saying that within the tenets of democracy, you have every right to do whatever you want to do provided that right does not infringe on another person’s right.”

Idris asserted that Tinubu was fully aware of the feelings of Nigerians across the country and he was actively working to implement effective policies aimed at alleviating the challenges faced by the citizenry and bringing relief to all Nigerians.

The minister said one of the policies being fine-tuned by government was to begin to pay stipends to all young university and polytechnics graduates after the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, pending their formal employment.

He said, “But beyond that, there is also another new policy that the President has formulated, which will begin to be seen very soon, and that is that all young men and women who have finished universities and polytechnics and have certificates and have done their mandatory NYSC, and have not been able to get jobs, will have something from the government to keep them afloat until the time they get jobs.”

He described the introduction of the Compressed National Gas (CNG) policy by the President as a game changer in the country’s economy because of its ability to bring down the cost of transportation by about 60 per cent, thereby providing a viable alternative to petrol and diesel.