‘’People are very bitter and they have hatred towards this government” -Ayodele
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Thursday, cautioned President Bola Tinubu not to stop the upcoming August 1 protest against hardship in the country.
Primate Ayodele said Nigerians are very bitter and have formed hatred toward the present government due to the hardship in the country.
In a statement by his Media Aide, Oluwatosin Osho, Ayodele said the protest will hold but the government should work on mitigating the effects by reducing the prices of essential commodities like food, fuel, electricity, etc.
The clergy explained that the current hardship is affecting the poor and rich because many didn’t expect it to get to this level even though he warned them before voting in another APC government.
He urged the president to discard those deceiving him that the economic situation of the country is getting better.
According to Ayodele, ‘’People are very bitter and they have hatred towards this government. Some states will participate and some will not but definitely there will be protests. The government needs all it needs to do; crash the price of food, electricity, petroleum, find solutions to insecurity, regulate prices and others to mitigate the effect of the protest.
‘’People are in serious hardship but the government doesn’t understand, they need to do something fast because it will be more than an ordinary protest. Nigeria doesn’t need this protest now because there is ‘protest inside protest’ due to pains, hardship, and hunger.
‘’This government is just assumption-based; it is not a realistic one so it’s difficult to connect with people or understand their pains. The government must adjust, it’s very simple to stop this protest by doing all that is needed. It will be a protest of hunger, pains and reward.
‘’The government is affecting the rich and poor, there is hardship everywhere but people didn’t expect this. People who surround the government are deceiving him. They want the government to collapse. The government has not done anything so they should expect the protest, it will stand. ‘’
‘’Nigeria deserves better welfare despite the increment in minimum wage, it’s not an achievement but let this government go after a better achievement that the people will be grateful for.’’
The National Headquarters of DSS had in a Press Release signed by its Director PR & Stratcoms, Peter Afunanya, PhD, while calling on opinion, religious and traditional leaders to caution their subjects said it won’t allow the protest to go on as planned.
The release read “The Department of State Services (DSS) has followed the discourse on planned protests in parts of the country in the coming weeks by persons and groups yet to identify themselves in the public as leaders of the plot. While peaceful protest is a democratic right of citizens, the Service has confirmed a sinister plan by some elements to infiltrate the protest and use it to cause chaos and extreme violence in the land. It has also identified the reason behind the protest to be political. The plotters desire to use the intended violent outcome to smear the federal and sub-national governments; make them unpopular and pit them against the masses. The long term objective is to achieve a regime change especially at the Centre.
“The Service has also identified, among others, the funding lines, sponsors and collaborators of the plot. However, it does not think that aggression should be the first line action in the instance, in handling the emerging scenario. It has instead, variously applied non kinetic and conflict resolution strategies, including moral suasion, stakeholder engagement and other multi-track diplomatic shuttles, to dissuade the planners from actualising their undesirable objective.
“Based on the foregoing, the Service wishes to warn all the protest groups to eschew any form of proposed rage, anarchy and spoliation. While the different levels of Government have routinely explained their agenda to ameliorate alleged harsh economic conditions, the Service urges the prospective protesters to listen to the voice of reason, good conscience and patiently engage with the authorities, in the interest of peace. This has become important given that violence begets destruction of lives and property as well as serve as a distraction to governance. The agitators are encouraged to use ample ways available to them to channel their grievances without resorting to violence.
“The Service calls on people of goodwill, Leaders of Thought, Captains of Industry, Labour Unions, Student Associations, Youth Leaders, the Civil Society, Clergy, NGOs, Women groups, Civil Servants and Politicians to shun any invitation to participate in any orchestrated violence, deliberately designed to cause disaffection in the country. Similarly, Parents, Guardians, Heads of traditional and academic institutions are respectively urged to advise their children, wards, subjects and students not to take part in the planned protest. Let us all join hands to build a Nation without rancour, bitterness or stained banner.
The Service will work with other sister Security and law enforcement agencies to maintain peace. It will, where necessary, apply all legitimate methods to achieve this. Meanwhile, the website, dss.gov.ng; email address – dsspr@dss.gov.ng and Telephone lines +2349153391309; +2349088373514 will remain available to the members of the public who may wish to contact the Service”