Igbo members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State have urged Igbo communities in the State to boycott the planned nationwide protests against economic hardships in the country.
President of the group, Mr Joe Igbokwe, made the call at a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday.
There have been controversies around some groups planning a protest nationwide, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, to demand government’s solutions to rising cost of living and economic hardship.
Igbokwe urged all Igbos living in Lagos including residents and not to take part or join in repeating the mayhem they witnessed in 2020.
He noted that this was because they were yet to recover from the colossal damage, losses, massive looting in Lagos and across Nigeria.
“We are bonafide members of APC in Lagos and Nigeria and we have gathered here to lend our voices to the planned 10 days nationwide protest.
“Given our experience on the 2020 EndSars protest that led to unprecedented destruction across Nigeria especially Lagos state, we do not think that the timing is good for Nigeria.
“The leadership of APC in Lagos State has spoken to the leadership of all major markets in the state.
“These markets were namely ASPAMDA, Odun-Ade Building Market, Mandilas, Lawanson and Oyingbo fridge and Air conditioning markets, Berger Auto Dealers, Yaba Markets just to mention.
“This is because we are yet to recover from the colossal damage, losses, and massive looting in Lagos and across Nigeria,” the president said.
Igbokwe said the Igbos were aware of the hard decisions being taken to reposition Nigeria and the massive reforms being carried out by the president.
He added that given his track records in matters of leadership and governance, they had no doubt that the president would lead Nigeria to the promised land.
Igbokwe, however, appealed to the Igbo community in Lagos and all Igbos in Nigeria to support the president for the good for the commonwealth.
He said the Igbos believed in the president given his track records in Lagos as he had laid the foundation for the unprecedented growth they were seeing in the state.
Igbokwe said they remained commited and loyal to the leaderships of Lagos and of Nigeria.
According to him, we pledge our support for the reforms the president is pushing and given his antecedents and deep knowledge in matters of leadership and governance, we know he will not fail.
Igbo groups in Lagos dissociate from planned protest
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Igbo Political and Socio-cultural Groups, Lagos State Chapter, on Tuesday, dissociated its members from the planned nationwide protest to begin on Aug. 1.
The Coordinator of the chapter, Mr Anslem Njoku, made the position of the coalition known at a press conference which held in Ikeja.
The planned protest is tagged #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria.
It is proposed to take place from Aug.1 to Aug. 10 to draw the attention of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
“After an empirical analysis and overview of the current economic situation in Nigeria, we, as a body, agree that it is not in dispute that there is hardship in the country.
“However, the current economic downturn is not limited to Nigeria, as other developed and developing countries are going through almost same situation.
“It is important to note that the current economic situation bedeviling our country is not caused by the present government.
”It is a cumulative effect and result of past bad governance, which logically and sensibly cannot be attributed to the Tinubu-led administration, which is barely one year on the saddle,” he said.
Njoku said that any protest at this point in time could cause chaos, which would be counterproductive to the aim.
“We are saying that a nationwide protest at this time, when the Federal Government is trying to revamp the economy, is going to be counterproductive, hence ill-advised.
“Therefore, we are distancing ourselves and the entire Ndigbo in Lagos from the planned protest.
”Nigerians should develop the culture of dialogue with government and deployment of constructive criticisms without recourse to unnecessary provocative protest and violence,” he said.
The coordinator said that Igbos contributed to the development of Lagos State and would not join hands to destroy the state.
“Lagos State is a Yorubaland and Ndigbo who are resident here have contributed immensely to its development, and cannot be used or coerced in whatever forms, to destroy the assets.
“We are not destruction-prone and cannot be part of those seeking to destroy what we partly and jointly built.
“Ndigbo are not wired for destruction but we develop wherever we are residing,” he said.
He appealed to Tinubu to release, through dialogue, the Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, currently in detention.
