The Inter-Party Advisory Council in Lagos State on Sunday urged individuals and groups planning to stage protests against hardship in August to shelve the plans,in the interest of peace and security.
The State IPAC Chairperson, Temilola Akinade,made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
She said while it was the right of anyone or group to stage protests to vent anger against certain government’s policies or actions , doing so at this time was bad.
Akinade said the country was grappling with too many challenges already, adding the protests could be hijacked to cause loss of lives and destruction, like what happened during the Endsars protests of 2020.
The IPAC boss said: “A protest is a public expression of disapproval or dissent towards a particular issue, policy, or action.
“It is a form of peaceful assembly, demonstrating objection or resistance, often with the aim of influencing decision-makers, raising awareness, or bringing about change.
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“However, this has not been the situation in most protests in Nigeria with recent experiences. While we are not against protest, it must be peaceful.
“The umbrella body of political parties in Lagos will not support any protest that can jeopardise peace because there can be no progress in an atmosphere of violence.
“2020 EndSars has left horrible marks and caused a setback to Nigeria, especially Lagos ,because hoodlums and enemies of the state saw it as an avenue to cause chaos and breakdown of law and order,” she said.
“We should not allow that to happen again in our state no matter what is happening and going on.
“We are not saying protest is bad, but at this time and with the current situation in the country, it could set the nation on fire,” she added.
Akinade said that Lagos had always been the epicentre of protests and had suffered losses to violent ones.
The chairperson implored youths and groups to explore dialogue or other peaceful means to express themselves and demand action from government rather than employ an action that could be counter-productive. .
“We implore the youth to calm down. We all share in the pains and hardship.”she said.
Akinade, however, urged government at all levels to do more to alleviate the sufferings of citizens owing to economic hardship.
“The government at all levels must also not take the welfare of the people for granted in all policies and reforms. It must listen to what the people are saying, ” she said.
There have been reports that some youth groups are planning protests nationwide, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, to demand government’s solutions to rising cost of living and economic hardship.
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