A youth group under the aegis of Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW) has pulled out of the nationwide protest against hardship scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 1. The 15 million-member group has called on other Nigerian youths to follow suit in appreciation of the landmark achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
YCYW is the assembly of Nigeria youths from the six states within the South West zone, residing both at home and in diaspora.
In a Press Statement signed by its Northern Coordinator, Amb. Shittu Ajibade Sunday, said that even though citizens have the right to protest in any democratic setting, the organizers of End Bad Governance Protest seem to be nursing a hidden agenda beyond a supposed peaceful protest. They are “heating up the polity and putting law- abiding citizens in fear of the unknown outcome of the planned protest,” he said.
Ambassador Sunday said it would be an act of ingratitude to think the best way to charge a performing President to put in more efforts is by pulling down the country in what looks like a sponsored protest.
“As much as we all are aware of our trying time as a nation, it would equally be unpatriotic to burn down the country in a bid to drive home our demands. So many Nigerians are yet to recover from the loss they incurred during the dreaded END SARS PROTEST; a lot of the state assets went up in flames, businesses were looted and casualties recorded; unfortunately for the dead ones, Nigeria continues to exist as one big nation even after them.”
He said that it would be impossible to think that the decadence of over 16 years could be fixed in just one year by a government which was going out of place to satisfy the citizens. “The hunger, insecurity, dwindling economy we are talking about didn’t start today…”
The group, therefore, passionately appealed to fellow youths to see beyond regional, religious and tribal sentiments to appreciate the government’s landmark achievements within its short time in office.
YCYW lists the achievements to include: Reaching out to the grassroots through the approval of Local Government Autonomy; approval of students loan, the first in the history of Nigeria’s democracy; partnering with some state governments like Niger State and others in agricultural production and the distribution of over four million bags of fertilizer in a calculated attempt to eradicate the hunger caused by insecurity.
Tinubu’s other achievements enumerated by YCYW
are: The approval of over 100 percent increment in minimum wage to bridge the gap of rising costs of commodities, increment in Federal allocation to states to ensure the dividend of democracy reaches all and sundry; and the pro- activeness of some of Tinubu’s appointees who have raised the bar beyond the usual and have proven that the Renewed Hope Agenda is not a sham. “One of them is the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. The NCS under his watch recently intercepted, trailers load of illegal ammunition.. . For the first time in history, Nigeria Customs Service decided to engage hunger in a physical battle by sharing free rice to vulnerable Nigerians; we have families and friends who are beneficiaries of this kind gesture.”
He said that the hope of Yoruba youths in this government has been rekindled by all these and feels it is totally wrong to think of inciting protest against a working government.
“The Yoruba youths under the aegis of YCYW hereby pull completely out of the Purported National protest; it doesn’t mean well for our peaceful coexistence as a nation, Ambassador Sunday said.
He urged fellow Yoruba youths to be vigilant and report any evil acts around them to security agencies.
