Hardship: Youth Forum kicks against proposed protest

The National Youth Stakeholders Forum, NYSF, a coalition of youth groups in Nigeria, has kicked against the proposed nationwide protests against hardship and bad governance in the country.

The Forum said it elected to declare its non participation in the proposed protest in the greater interest of sustaining the political stability of the country.

It instead demanded that President Bola Tinubu commence immediate restoration of the functionality of the country’s four refineries to full operational capacity.

The decision was announced by Chinazam Ike, Vice Chairman, at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, warning there were evidence that the protest could be hijacked by politicians with ulterior motives.

Ike said although the group wholly subscribe to the instrumentality of a peaceful protest geared towards the actualization of courses that are for the greater good of the country, it’s opposed to the consequent weaponization of protest to initiate political instability.

He said it is unpatriotic to go ahead and provide an enabling environment for desperate politicians to take advantage of the hardship in the country to concoct instability.

He said, “We strongly agree with the spirit and the letter of holding government accountable, airing views or even expressing displeasures, these are not just fundamentals of a democracy or free society, they are the very foundations upon which the founding fathers of our nation built it.

“As young people we wholly subscribe to the instrumentalities of a peaceful protest geared towards the actualization of
courses that are in the greater good of our dear Nation.

“However, the consequent weaponization of protest to initiate political instability is what we are averse with.

“We have seen many stories around the African countries where peaceful protests have led to peaceful resolution of social issues, we have equally seen situations where nations crumble at the instance that peaceful protests become weaponized by desperate politicians to create political instability, usurp power of truncate
the very democracy that guaranteed the right and liberties of protests in the first place.

“We have strong reasons to believe that the proposed protests favour the latter, we have confidential and classified information that has alluded to the interference of the proposed protest by politicians who see it as a means of settling their political scores.

“Therefore, we are re-addressing our protests to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has come out to appeal to us the youth 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.”

DAILY POST reports that some Nigerians are mobilising for nationwide protest slated for August 1 to August 10, 2024.

Tagged #EndBadGovernace, organisers of the protest have lamented about widespread hunger and inflation in the country.