Victor EzejaNigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has scheduled to address Nigerians protesting against economic hardship across the country on Sunday.
This was made known in a statement signed by Tinubu’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, released on Saturday.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAccording to Ngelale, Tinubu will address the nation through a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, at 7:00 am.
The statement reads: “President Bola Tinubu will address the nation in a broadcast on Sunday, August 4, 2024, at 7:00 am.
“Television, radio, and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to plug into the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) for the broadcast.
“The broadcast will be repeated on the network services of the NTA and the FRCN at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm on the same day.”
This comes three days after Nigerians, mostly youths, embarked on a 10-day nationwide protest against rising cost of living in the country.
According to the organisers, the protest which began on Thursday, 1st August, is scheduled to last till 10th August.
However, following cases of violence, and death of people recorded on day one and two of the protests in some parts of the country, a lawyer to the organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN, issued a statement on Friday, 2nd August, calling for ceasefire.
Adegboruwa, said the intention of the organisers was to achieve peaceful protests, but some bad elements highjacked it to cause mayhem leading to violence, arson, looting and unfortunately loss of lives of both protesters and some security operatives.
He expressed condolences to the families of those that lost loved ones.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria commended peaceful protesters for being law-abiding.
He berated the Federal Government for failing to engage the organisers of the protests in order to address the issues raised in their charter of demands, adding that such had been the case in their dealings with labour unions that often ended in strike actions.
He therefore appealed to the president to address the nation and engage the protesters through their representatives.
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“I therefore call upon President Bola Tinubu to directly address the nation and then engage the protesters, through their representatives. Thereafter, the government should set up a Committee comprising men and women of integrity to meet with the protesters to address the issues that they have raised,” Adegboruwa said.
He also appealed to protesters “to withdraw themselves from their various protest grounds and to suspend the protests immediately and indefinitely, in order to give room for meaningful dialogue and engagement with the government.”
“Given that the protests were said to have been hijacked by sponsored agents, it is necessary to avoid further losses and casualties.
“The organisers of the protests and their representatives should embrace dialogue with the government,” the senior lawyer added.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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