By Gloria Ikibah
As a way to addressing the concerns of Nigerians, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to consult with the planned protesters.
This decision was part of the resolution reached at the End of Session Dinner organised by the Caucus resolution on Monday, in Abuja.
Naijablitznews.com recalled that some aggrieved Nigerians have scheduled August 2, 2024, to stage a peaceful protest in the 36 states of the federation including the FCT, to bring home their demands to the Federal Government.
Speaking with newsmen after the dinner, Leader of the Opposition Caucus, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, dissuaded Nigerians from going on with the planned protest on the backdrop of insecurity in parts of the country.
He said: “We also appealed to the government to dialogue with the planned protesters and also look at some of the messages they are raising, the critical areas that need government intervention. Government should intervene and ensure that issues are resolved amicably.
“We are not going to encourage any protesters because in the past we have observed in most cases that even peaceful protests have been overtaken by hoodlums and with the insecurity situation in some parts of the country, you may not have the control of the gathering of people. So some unscrupulous people may use the opportunity to create chaos.
“So we are discouraging any protest but we appeal to government to dialogue and also look at critical areas that are necessary and address them amicably”.
Rep. Chinda therefore called on the government to adopt the carrot and stick method in addressing the problem of insecurity in the country; and create means to ensure citizens are self reliant in a bid to tackle the economic downturn in the country.
“We acknowledge and observe the insecurity situation in the country and we call on the government to use carrot and stick by ensuring that let the result be seen. Let all the security chiefs do what is right to ensure that Nigerians are protected,” he said.
“We also acknowledged in our discussion that there is hunger in the land and we appeal to the government not only to be giving palliatives but to create ways and means whereby people can be self-reliant,” he said.
Naijablitznews.com reports that the minority caucus of the House is made up of 180 member from the People’s Democratic Party PDP, Social Democratic Party SDP, Young Progressives Party YPP, New Nigerian People’s Party NNPP, All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, African Democratic Congress ADC, and Labour Party LP.