Uche Nwosu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, has urged Nigerians to put off the planned nationwide protest and give President Bola Tinubu time to fix the country.
It would be unreasonable to expect an administration that has only been in power for a year to swiftly address the problems that have bedevilled the country for decades, according to the chief of staff of former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Nwosu made the request in a statement announced in Abuja on Thursday.
His appeal comes barely 24 hours after the ruling APC called on worried parents to supervise the movement of their wards to refrain them from being recruited for violence ahead of the nationwide protest.
The planned August 1–10 protest has continued to incite tension and provoke conflicting responses from Nigerians.
Numerous organisations who expressed interest in supporting the movement said that the economic hardship in the country and rising expense of living were what sparked the call for protest.
But Nwosu insisted that the president should be given time to ‘correct all the abnormalities.’
He said, “Let me use this opportunity to appeal to our beloved Nigerian youths to give peace a chance. We are indeed passing through hard times in our dear nation. But we cannot give up like those who do not have hope. It is true that in a democracy citizens have the right to protest but most often the protests in Nigeria where we have 250 ethnic groups do not end well.
“For instance, the EndSARS protest where a very peaceful protest was being hijacked by people who do not mean well for the country at the end of the day properties worth billions of naira and many lives were lost. Yes, President Bola Tinubu’s policies and reforms might be harsh now. But at the end of every tunnel, there will be light.
“He is barely a year in office. Why don’t we give him time to correct all the abnormalities we have seen in this country, the abnormalities of yesterday? Let’s give him time to correct them so that we can have a country of our collective hopes and aspirations. There is no place like home. Nigeria is our country. Let’s have a country where you and I will live and say this is our country.”
