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 Anselm Njoku, made the position of the coalition known at a press conference 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 the same situation.
“It is important to note that the current economic situation bedevilling 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 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. (Vanguard)
