26th July 2024
As part of efforts by the government to ensure the planned hunger protests, slated for August 1 to 10, is averted nationwide, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday held emergency meetings with the All Progressives Congress state governors, prominent traditional rulers and Islamic religious scholars at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja .
The protests, which are being organised under the hashtag ‘EndBadGovernance,’ have gained significant traction on social media even as the organisers remain unknown, with no group officially claiming responsibility
The meetings are coming after growing calls for the anti-hunger protests following widespread economic hardships in the country.
President Tinubu first met with the APC governors, under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Ministers of Finance and Budget and Economic Planning, Wale Edun and Abubakar Bagudu, were also at the meeting.
Next was the meeting with the prominent traditional rulers.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, led the royal fathers at the meeting, with Vice President Kashim Shettima, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Ribadu and Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun in attendance.
Afterwards the President held another meeting with the Ulamas.
The President pledged that his administration would uphold democratic principles, including the right to protest, but would not condone demonstrations that lead to the destruction of lives and property.
“In as much as we believe that demonstrations are part of democracy, we will never encourage any protests that lead to the destruction of lives and property.
READMORE ;Military warns against violent Protest, says ” We Won’t Allow You To Mobilise For Anarchy.
Speaking after the meeting on Thursday, the traditional Rulers urged the organisers of the protests to seek dialogue with the Federal Government, warning that there was the possibility of the protests being hijacked by hoodlums.
“The President has said, ‘any leader that you don’t like, wait until 2027 and vote him out.’ He is open to dialogue. We know that Nigeria faces many challenges. But are we going to destroy our nation by ourselves? Is that what we are all after?
“It is very difficult to build, but it is the easiest to destroy. We are all stakeholders in this country and are stronger as a nation than individually,” the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who co-chairs the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, told journalists after an expanded cabinet meeting at the State House, Abuja.
