By Kehinde Akinpelu
The Country President of the United Nations Positive Livelihood Award Centre (United Nations-POLAC) Prof Mercy Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davies has called on the Federal and state governments, to look into the hardship occasioned by the subsidy removal and plight of the suffering masses in the country to avoid completely any form of protest in Nigeria, both now and in future.
She also pleaded with the organisers of the planned nationwide protests dubbed “End Bad Governance,” in Nigeria to give the government more time to “right the wrongs.”
Adesanya-Davies, in a statement on Wednesday, also pleaded with the youths, as well as, all well meaning Nigerians and supporters of the protest to please halt the planned protest scheduled for tomorrow, 1st August 2024.
She said: “I have noted the demands of the youths which included that the government should bring down the price of fuel, give proper wages, offer free education, fix the roads, provide electricity, end insecurity, declare a state of emergency on inflation and disclose lawmakers’ pay, among several others.”
However, she appealed for patience by Nigerians for the government to address the challenges of the country.
Adesanya-Davies said, “Judging from the recent developments on the policy of the federal government towards reviewing many policies of the government and introducing new measures aimed at improving Nigeria economy for good, UN-Polac believes, that the federal government will try to deliver the dividend of democracy to Nigerians, if given more time.”
“I have just read the New headline today 30th July, 2024 that, “The Federal Government has suspended import duties and taxes on essential food items.It was reported that, “The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, announced this in a press briefing on Monday evening. This move is aimed at addressing the widespread hunger and making basic necessities cheaper for Nigerians.
“Adeniyi spoke on the tough economic conditions and the government’s plans to lessen the financial burden on citizens. He mentioned that global inflation is affecting many countries, including Nigeria. To combat this, the government is removing import duties and taxes on key food items to make them more affordable.
“We are committed to implementing this measure seamlessly to address the problem of hunger in our nation.
“In these challenging times, let us unite in resilience and cooperation. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who have embraced the path of peace and dialogue,” he stated.
In a similar development a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, had challenged President Bola Tinubu to reshuffle his cabinet and include more politicians and technocrats.
Lawal made this known, saying, ‘Replace Dead Woods In Your Cabinet With More Politicians,’
In a statement on Tuesday while reacting to the build-up of the nationwide protest and warning from the Federal and State Governments to citizens to shun the scheduled protests.
Lawal urged Tinubu to address the nation immediately with persuasive arguments to appease the angry and hungry citizens instead of issuing threats against the planned hunger protests.He asked President Tinubu to enumerate concrete and believable government policies intended to address current challenges on an immediate, medium and long-term basis.Speaking further, Babachir Lawal faulted the Senate’s ‘dictatorship leadership’, stating that it is deceptively building an imperceptible revolt that might soon explode.
The ex-Presidential candidate of the Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), has earlier on urged Nigerians to create a conducive environment where everyone could access their rights and protections as enshrined in the Constitution and harness the power of Language and Linguistics; while delivering the 57th Inaugural Lecture of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria last week, on Tuesday 25th, 2024.
Adesanya-Davies, who had while mourning during the ‘END SARS PROTEST’ written several books on the protest, pleaded with the youths not to engage in any protest which could take the form and destruction of ‘END SARS protest.’
She said: ‘Not again. Please we do not want lives wasted and properties destroyed
again like during the “END SARS protest. “Thank you all Nigerians!”