All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors Forum has appealed to Nigerian youths to refrain from participating in a planned nationwide protest scheduled for August 1-15.
Gatekeepers News reports that the governors made this plea after a two-hour meeting in Abuja on Wednesday night.
The planned protest is aimed at drawing attention to the rising cost of living and economic hardship in the country. However, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who chairs the APC Governors Forum, assured that the federal government is working to address these issues.
“We are very committed to supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his economic policies and reforms,” Uzodimma told journalists after the meeting, flanked by his fellow governors.
“We agreed to explain to Nigerians that this government is doing well and is committed to addressing the economic challenges facing the country.”
The governors urged youths to give the government a chance to implement its economic policies and reforms, promising that they will yield positive results.
“We have looked at the various policies of this government, and we acknowledge a teething problem associated with the initial stage of the programme and agree that because we are very hopeful, it is also the solution to the current problem and economic hardship that have befallen our country, and in a very short time, we are confident that the situation would be restored. Prosperity would come at the end of the day.
“We use this opportunity to advise our young boys and girls, young men and women, to desist from being instigated into causing crisis or chaos in the country.
“Already, Nigerians have suffered enough. The global economic recession, insecurity in Nigeria, political tension occasioned by instigations and campaigns of calumny by the opposition party, and social media attacks on various policies of the government.
“We want to advise for the interest of the country and a show of patriotism. Our citizens must take ownership of this country. We have no other country we can call our own.”
He stressed that “it is not wise at this moment” for youths or any group to protest in “whatever guise”.
