A Non Governmental Organisation, Odinma Ebonyi Foundation, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to eschew sectional ideology in all its manifestations and save Nigeria from the brinks of collapse occasioned by the nationwide youth unrest.
The Organisation, which regretted that recent happenings were gradually sliding the nation into anarchy, called on government at all tiers to, as a matter of urgency, address all the genuine issues raised by the protesters because protest and civil disturbances were inevitable tools to seeking government attention in all climes.
In a statement released by the Coordinator of the organization, Collins Azu, in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Thursday, it condemned in strong terms the killing of peaceful protesters in some parts of the country, describing the development as a product of utter dereliction of duty on the part of policy makers.
The release however, further regretted that the peaceful protests as they were, had been hijacked by hoodlums, thereby corrupting the rights to protest as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The group, which reiterated its unrepentant stance in the pursuit of peaceful and egalitarian Nigerian society, also called on the hoodlums not to destroy the expected gains from the peaceful #EndSARS protests.
Part of the statement reads: “The Odinma Ebonyi Foundation, a group unrepentant in the pursuit of peaceful and egalitarian Nigerian Society, hereby condemn in strong terms, the killings of helpless Nigerians -protesting over a perceived utter dereliction of duty on the part of policy makers.
“ODEF is not unmindful of the fact that protest is enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, but we regret how such peaceful protest was hijacked by ‘politicians’ thugs and roguish elements – destroying state institutions – the case of razing down Eke Aba Police Station in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State and private organisation – TVC station, Lagos state, among others.
“To guard against the nation sliding into the Hobessian state of nature where, according to the foremost political scientist, Thomas Hobbes, ‘life is too short, brutish and nasty’, the group is calling on the government at all tiers to, as a matter of urgency, address all the genuine issues raised by the protesters because protest and civil disobedience / disturbances are inevitable whenever government lives below billings.
“Odinma Ebonyi Foundation appeal to various state and non state actors to close ranks, sheath swords for the peace, unity and progress of our dear nation as emblemetized in the nation’s coat of arm.
“President Mohammadu Buhari, being the leader, on whose table, all bucks stop, should eschew sectional ideology and quell the situation as anarchy looms.”