Speak out against planned protests, APC Professionals tell monarchs, religious leaders

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Council, a group within the ruling party, has called on traditional and religious leaders across the country to lend their voices against the planned nationwide protests slated to commerce from August 1, saying their wise counsels would go a long way to halt the exercise and bring stability in the country.

The National Director General of the Council, Dr. Seyi Bamigbade, made the call on Tuesday, while speaking with newsmen in Lagos, even as he urged those behind the planned protest to drop the plans to avert “the type of violence happening in Kenya here.”

According to him, the Federal Government is doing all it can to address economic challenges in the country, stressing that the various reforms carried out by the current administration would soon yield the desired result.

Bamigbade, therefore, appealed to leaders of the two prominent institutions to use their revered offices to help in fostering peace in the country by appealing to Nigerians to instead join hands in rebuilding the nation instead of embarking on demonstrations that would benefit no one.

He insisted that violence was not the solution to the current challenges facing the country, saying that “neither is protest a silver bullet.”

“I also want to use this opportunity to appeal to our traditional and religious leaders to use their large platforms to call on our younger ones who are planning to stage a protest to have a rethink.

“President Bola Tinubu has promised to take steps to address the nation’s economic challenges and I think we must exercise a little more patience. The recent approval of N70,000 minimum wage is one of these measures.

“While the advocacy and engagement to drop the protest continues, so that we will not end up having the type of violence happening in Kenya here, traditional and religious rulers must play active roles in saving the country from avoidable chaos.

“Violence is not the solution to the challenge we have at the moment, neither is protest a silver bullet,” he said.

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