The Lagos State Arewa Community in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on northern leaders and other prominent elder statesmen in Nigeria to urge President Bola Tinubu to prioritize good representation and significantly increase food production to prevent the anticipated protest and its potential negative consequences.

Chairman of the Arewa Community APC Lagos, Alhaji Sa’adu Yusuf Dandare Gulma, made the statement while addressing the press on Monday.

He also instructed the Arewa youths and members not to participate in any protest scheduled for August 1, 2024.

He said: “The attention of the Arewa community in Lagos state has been drawn to the call for a proposed strike action come August 1, 2024, in Lagos and some other states across Nigeria, we are hereby calling on our very hardworking youths and members to distance themselves from the protest because it will further impoverish and worsen our predicament.

“The last time a protest was held in Lagos and Nigeria most of our public infrastructures: buses, poor people’s shops and even families suffered great losses, so we are saying No protest and we will not be an instrument for protest.”

Sa’adu highlighted the economic hardships that past protests have brought to Lagos and other parts of the country.

He advised that, instead of the proposed protest, the voices of reason, especially those of former leaders, should be prominently echoed and heeded to find a way forward to address the situation.

“We know that the economic meltdown is severe but we will need to address this through other better avenues than protest, we all know how the #Endsars protest went, people died, properties were vandalized, and buses were burnt beyond recognition.

“So, we are calling on our Arewa Youths and members to stay away from any form of protest as our leaders are working hard to put things in order”, he said.

He urged the planners of the said protest to consider the option of dialogue to proffer a way out of the doldrums, as experienced leaders who can speak truth to power are readily available to save the day.

“We are appealing that our leaders in the north among the government cadre need to approach President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his team so that a good representation will be prioritised, also the production of food will be a priority because Nigerians are hungry and a hungry man is an angry man.”

He added that the Arewa community in Lagos are law-abiding people, saying, “We won’t want to be recognized with any protest that will ruin that strong relationship built long ago by our forefathers and leaders, so, we are saying no to protest, our youths are progressives, not protesters.”

Credit: thenationonlineng.net