By Gloria Ikibah
As the nationwide protest to ‘End Bad Governance’ in Nigeria reaches the fifth day, a member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Akinlayo Kolawole, has pleaded with Nigerians to exercise patience with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, because he understands their plights.
Rep. Kolawole who represents Ido/Osi/Moba/Ilejemeje Federal Constituency of Ekiti State, who stated this at a press conference on Monday in Abuja on the heels of protests across the country due to economic hardship, expressed confidence in the government to steer the country to prosperity.
The lawmaker also begged Nigerians to embrace dialogue in order to address their concerns rather than protests.
He cited that it is the constitutional right of citizen to also protest if they feel that government was not doing what they are supposed to do.
Kolawole who stated that the present administration was still new and inherited a faulty system which it is working tirelessly to repair, acknowledged that President Tinubu was finding solutions to the challenges for the benefit of Nigerians.
He said: “If you inherit a bad structure, it will take a while for you to repair it and make it stand solid. So, I want to beg all of us and the press people to also be patient with the government in power. Give us a little time.
“I promise that the government will do the needful. We all know that. And as we get the youth that are protesting, I will visit them and advise. And also I beg them to please dialogue. Because if you could see that the crisis in Iran, if you look at the crisis in Russia and Ukraine for the past almost two years. They have be fighting and no solution in place.
“But if they come to table, I think that crisis will be resolved. So I want our youth to also consider that olive branch that the president has offered them. That they should come to table for dialogue.
“So whatever demand they have, they can table it before the government. The one the government can do immediately, they will offer it. The one they can do in a long time process, they will also let them know.
“So dialogue is better than protest. So we advise our youth and our compatriots to please be patient with the government. The government will do the needful at the right time”.