The Coalition of Civil Society Groups in Jos, Plateau State, has stated that the planned hardship protest slated for August 1 is a ploy to destabilise Nigeria and, therefore, urged Nigerians not to participate in such a grand plot against democracy under the guise of protest.
Addressing newsmen in Jos on Tuesday, the covener of the coalition, Comrade Prince Miaphen, who acknowledged that there is hunger and hardship in the country, stated there are other better ways of presenting the predicament of Nigerians to the government instead of a protest, which can be easily hijacked by miscreants and other anti-democratic elements.
“There is nothing in this protest less than a plot to enthrone anarchy and destabilise the country. And we can assure our compatriots that it will never happen because Nigeria does not belong to those anarchists only.
Indeed, the agenda is very sinister, and the intention is clearly criminal.”
Miaphen called on compatriots across the country not only to avoid participating in such unpatriotic protests but also to rally support for national stability, peace, and progress.
“Nobody should deceive us into throwing our country into chaos. It will all look very sexy and colourful now, but the outcomes are always regrettable. Those telling us about how Kenya did it, should also tell us what happened in Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, and all those places where protests eventually paved the way for war and anarchy.
“Yes, we may be hungry. But we cannot be stupid. Our roofs are obviously leaking, but we cannot set our houses ablaze. We are severely challenged, but we are not hopeless. Let a better sense prevail.
“Truly, we are all in Nigeria, and we recognise the hardship occasioned by inflation, the high cost of living, and the weakened purchasing power of the naira. It will be irresponsible of anyone to pretend that there are no issues. Mr. President himself has severally acknowledged these issues and appealed for time to get things right.
“Nigeria came from a long journey of misgovernance and lack of long-term planning for future benefits. Each government simply wanted to survive so that by the time the next government is dealing with worse problems to survive too, Nigerians will, as a matter of collective amnesia, forget their wrongdoing and praise them for being better than the present.”
According to him, while recognising that there are issues, it is not enough to lend ourselves to the grand designs of those whose interests are to set the country ablaze so that they can turnaround to pontificate and blame citizens for choosing a Tinubu other than themselves or those they promoted.
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