• It’s a family matter, give us time, FG pleads with Nigerians
• ‘Have confidence in President’s efforts at repositioning economy’
• Oba of Benin urges Nigerians to shelve proposed action
• Bwala visits Tinubu, blames looming demonstration on politics, foreign interests
• NLC reaffirms solidarity with suffering citizens

With less than a week to the planned nationwide protests against hardship, the Nigerian leadership is becoming apprehensive by the day and unwilling to leave matters to chance.

Yesterday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, met with ministers over the anticipated protests.

The meeting was convened behind closed doors and had all the over 40 ministers in the President’s cabinet in attendance.

Ministers spotted include Nyesom Wike (FCT), Yusuf Tuggar (Foreign Affairs), Zephaniah Jisalo (Special Duties), Tahir Mamman (Education), Abubakar Bagudu (Budget and Planning), Wale Edun (Finance), Mohammed Idris (Information), Bello Matawalle (Defence), and David Umahi (Works).

In the same vein, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) summoned an emergency meeting of all its state chairmen to discuss ways to stave off the planned protests.

Following the meeting the SGF and NSA held with the President’s cabinet, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris told reporters that the federal government is not sleeping on duty and begged for more time from Nigerians.

Describing the planned protests as a “family matter”, he said all grievances would be resolved to ensure the peace and stability of the country.

Idris said: “We came together to discuss. You can see that this is not happening at the Council Chambers. It’s happening at 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. We hope and believe that 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. We hope that peace will prevail at the end of the day. He 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 it to say that yesterday, 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 that there is a need for any protest. We are appealing for calm. We are appealing for a peaceful resolution or approach to any issue.

“If you have anything that you want to put out there, you are free to put it out there. But the government is insisting that we are all Nigerians. We have to be calm. We have to be patient.”

ALSO, at the APC NWC emergency meeting, National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, said the National Working Committee joins the President to passionately appeal to those who are planning protests to shelve their plans and have confidence in the government’s ability to address most of the economic challenges facing the nation.

Basiru said: “NWC noted that since coming on board in 2023, the government has met quite several challenges, especially economic challenges, and Mr President is gradually implementing programmes and policies that would shortly bring succour and relief to the citizens.

“The meeting 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 ongoing at the National Assembly.”

Basiru added: “The meeting urged all those planning the protests to have confidence in Mr President’s unrelenting efforts at repositioning the economy while assuring Nigerians that the challenges will soon pass away.
“It urged parents and well-meaning Nigerians to monitor the movement of their children and wards so that they will not be used in causing chaos in the country.”

Relatedly, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, urged proponents of the protests to shelve the action.

The monarch made the appeal in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Osaigbobo Iguobaro.

He advised aggrieved Nigerians to give the federal government enough time to implement its economic policies, which he said are expected to alleviate the current hardship experienced by Nigerians.

He also appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts to implement its economic and security policies.

This came as Daniel Bwala, a former spokesperson for the Atiku Campaign Organisation in the 2023 presidential election, faulted the planned protest, saying it bears the hallmarks of politics.

He made this known while speaking with reporters after he visited the President yesterday.

Bwala said: “The issue with the protests, everybody has the right, you know, to show his dissent. The right to protest is constitutional. I honestly believe that there is, to a large extent, an element of politics, and I believe that it transcends the country. There would have been foreign interests taking advantage of the poor political climate because of the facts of hunger and suffering.”

Describing the planned action as “unnecessary”, Bwala said: “This protest, based on the foundation that it is building on the social media where people say ‘burn the house, destroy this, I will kill this person and the rest’, and based on intelligence, it is built to be violent.

“We know that everybody in Nigeria acknowledges that there is suffering, and the suffering did not start last year. We’ve been dealing with that issue of suffering and lack of employment. We’re talking about entrepreneurship, virtually every aspect of the economy, and security, which is what we have always been pushing to see how we can attain a better place.

“But suddenly, the conversation, if you see the mainstream and social media, is all about, ‘they want to bring the government down, President Bola Tinubu must resign’. Once you hear that kind of talk and language, then you don’t need somebody to interpret that there is a political connotation.”

MEANWHILE, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it is not the organiser of the planned nationwide protest against hunger slated for August 1.

The union was responding to reports that it had pulled out of a planned national protest organised by youths.

A statement signed by the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, yesterday advised the federal and subnational governments to listen to the cries of hungry Nigerians and address the economic crisis.

Entitled ‘The Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise’, the statement partly reads: “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 a story as patently false.

“The truth is that the Nigeria Labour Congress cannot withdraw from a protest that it did not organise. It is only the organisers of the speculated national protest that 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 that organised labour is oblivious to the dire living conditions Nigerians have been subjected to by the harsh economic policies of the government.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress stands in solidarity with the Nigerian people in these 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 the government to meet the widespread anger in the land with brute force.

“Once again, we implore the Federal Government and the 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.”