Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has pleaded with aggrieved Nigerian youths, who are planning week-long national protests in August over the high cost of living to shelve the action.
President Tinubu assured those behind the planned protests that he has heard their grievances and that he is working seriously to ensure that all their concerns are addressed.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Mohammed Idris, who conveyed the President’s plea on Tuesday in Abuja told State House correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu that general issues in the country were discussed and that the President said that he was working assiduously to ensure the country’s economy was placed in a good position.
‘’We discussed the issue of the country in general and Mr President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people that are trying to protest.
“Mr President said he listens to them and takes what they say seriously and he is working assiduously to ensure that this country is good not just for today, but also for the future.
“The issue of the planned protest, Mr President does not see any need for that, he asked them to shelve that plan and he has asked them to await the government’s response to all their pleas, he has listened to them,’’ the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayou Onanuga, has said that the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, was behind the planned protests by the Nigerian youths.
Reacting to the allegation, Mr Obi’s lawyers on Tuesday wrote Mr. Onanuga, demanding N5 billion and an apology within 72 hours for accusing him and his supporters of high treason in allegedly being masterminds of the planned “EndBadGovernance protest”.
In the same vein, the former presidential aspirant and a chieftain of the Labour Party, Professor Pat Utomi, has also challenged Mr. Onanuga to produce evidence of his involvement in the planned protest or face N500 billion litigation.
GIK/APA
President pleads with aggrieved Nigerian youth to abandon protest plans
