Count us out - Lagos non-indigenes dissociate selves from planned protest

A group, Non-Indigenous Ethnic Nationality in Lagos State says the proposed nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernance will be counterproductive and should be avoided.

The Director-General of the group, Chief Solomon Chukwu, at a media briefing in Lagos, said that non-indigenes in the state would not participate in the protest scheduled to be held from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that reactions have continued to trail the planned nationwide protest by some Nigerians.

Chukwu said the fact that President Bola Tinubu was consulting with stakeholders, political leaders and opinion moulders across all spectrums on the way forward showed that his administration was receptive.

He said that instead of protesting, the organisers should go for a dialogue with the president and ask for concessions or join hands with him in moving Nigeria forward.

Chukwu said that the protest could be hijacked by hoodlums to inflict more pain on Nigerians.

“President Bola Tinubu’s administration inherited an economy that was not only on its knees but also comatose.

“The rot of previous administrations was frightening, and it is unfair to expect years of bad governance, before Tinubu’s emergence, and its concomitant effects, to be fixed in a jiffy.

"The proposed protest will be counterproductive, and non-indigenous nationalities in Lagos not only wish to disassociate themselves from the protest but also wish to appeal to the organisers to sheath their sword.

“Each time an event of this nature occurs in Lagos, non-indigenous nationalities have always been accused of its orchestration; so, we state categorically that we shall not be part of the protest,” he said.

Chukwu urged all non-indigenous nationalities in Lagos to go for their lawful businesses on Aug. 1 and shun any event that could expose them to danger.

Alhaji Umar Patigi of the Council of Nupe Chief in Lagos State, said that, while the group recognised that the right of peaceful assembly and protests devoid of violence resided with the citizenry, violence had always marred previous ones.

“The EndSARS consequences are still reverberating, and to add to them will be catastrophic.

“Besides, Nigeria stands at a critical juncture today, on a precipice bedevilled with sundry crimes and criminality.

“The protest will also offer the opportunity for criminal elements to infiltrate and hijack the event to unleash their ‘trade’ and inflict more pain on the already economically-emasculated people.

“To say there is no basis for complaining in the current challenges the nation is passing through is to close one’s eyes from reality,” he said.

Patigi listed the challenges including the high cost of living, food inflation and Naira depreciation.

He said that Tinubu’s administration was poised to address the challenges.

Patigi appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the administration.

Also, the Coordinator of the group, Alhaji Auwalu Garuba, said, “EndSars protest ended with phenomenal sour taste with huge casualties both in human tolls and property.”

Garuba said that previous protests had far-reaching consequences on the nation.

He advised Nigerians to avoid the planned protest.