The National Youth Stakeholders Forum (NYSFN) of Nigeria has withdrawn from the planned nationwide protest scheduled for Aug. 1 to Aug. 10.
Vice Chairman of NYSFN, Chinazam Ike made the group’s position while addressing newsmen in Abuja on Saturday.
He said that the forum decided to withdraw from the planned protest in the interest of the country.
“In the greater interest of our dear nation, we announce the unanimous decisions of all the youth stakeholders in Nigeria to declare the proposed protest an aberration and their non-participation.
“Therefore, we are re-addressing our protests to President Bola Tinubu who has appealed to us to be careful not to put down this very nation that holds the promise of our bright future.
“In this regard, we are streamlining our demand to be the immediate restoration of the functionality of our four refineries to full operational capacity.
“To guarantee the availability, affordability and sustainability of fuel which is the power source of the economy.
“The forum is drawing the curtain on the proposed protest to which it had not just been an interested party or a vested interest, but had been careful initiators.”
Ike said that the decision was not arrived at hastily, craftily or selfishly, but after careful assessment of the past, the present and the projection of the future of our beloved nation.
“We are confident that in the coming days, it will become more evident to the youth of the nation and indeed all citizens, that we have acted in the best interest of our beloved nation.
”This is even as we continue to pursue the actualisation of our demands with the government with whom we are willing to commence negotiation of terms to help improve the lot of the Nigerian youth.”
Also speaking President of the Women of Impact International, Abimbola Nicholas said: “Our stand over this planned protest, our protest is not against the government.
“Our protest is that why do we have four refineries that are not working?
“We understand that the president has compassion for the nation. He is trying his best but who are these people that have decided are power brokers?
“We call on the youths to reposition your protest. Your protest is not against the government.”
She called on the government to come up with policies to ameliorate the plight of citizens.
Also, the President of the Yoruba Council Worldwide, Oladotun Hassan called on the government to engage in dialogue with all stakeholders for the cancellation of the planned demonstration.
“We are for dialogue. We have immediate problems in our various regions and states.
‘These issues must be aggregated. While we are demanding that in the immediate term, in order to end this, the President should issue an executive order to reduce the fuel price to a favourable price.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NYSFN is a convention of all political, social and cultural youth groups in Nigeria.
It was instituted to defend the course of the Nigerian Youth who is the victim of the highest and slightest inadequacies of the system that governs our beloved country.