President Bola Tinubu
By Victory Oghene
President Bola Tinubu has appealed to Nigerians to suspend the 10-day nationwide protest against hardship and hunger in the country.
Tinubu made the appeal in a national broadcast on the ongoing nationwide protest on Sunday.
The #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest, which commenced on August 1, is scheduled to end on August 10.
The president however urged the demonstrators to suspend the protest and create a room for dialogue.
Tinubu said: “I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity.
“Nigeria requires all hands on deck and needs us all – regardless of age, party, tribe, religion or other divides, to work together in reshaping our destiny as a nation.
“To those who have taken undue advantage of this situation to threaten any section of this country, be warned: The law will catch up with you. There is no place for ethnic bigotry or such threats in the Nigeria we seek to build.
“Our democracy progresses when the constitutional rights of every Nigerian are respected and protected. Our law enforcement agencies should continue to ensure the full protection of lives and properties of innocent citizens in a responsible manner.
“My vision for our country is one of a just and prosperous nation where each person may enjoy the peace, freedom, and meaningful livelihood that only democratic good governance can provide – one that is open, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people.
“For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.
“I, therefore, took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress.”
