A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A ONE-DAY INTERACTIVE SESSION HELD ON TUESDAY, 30TH JULY, 2024 IN KATSINA, BY NIGERIA FIRST PROJECT INITIATIVE ON THE UPCOMING NATIONWIDE PROTEST:
Introduction:
Nigeria First Project Initiative is a coalition of non-profit and non-governmental organizations in Nigeria that works around governance, democracy, human rights, and peace. We strive to achieve, among others, inculcating the virtues of patriotism, national consciousness, a sense of solidarity, esprit de corps, and good neighborliness in our citizenry.
In response to the upcoming nationwide protest, we have convened an inclusive roundtable with civil society organizations that include youth-based organizations, students’ unions, people with disabilities, women groups, faith-based groups, academia, indigenous leaders, and human rights defenders.
This august gathering, which was held at the conference hall of Hayatt Regency Suite, Katsina, on Tuesday, 30th July, 2024, was also graced by the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Katsina State who represented the acting Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Farouk Lawal Jobe.
After extensive and robust deliberations, we have unanimously resolved as follows:
We acknowledge the fact that the common people, who are the majority in Nigeria, are facing severe hardship, including a high cost of living and low purchasing power.
We therefore salute Katsina State citizens and Nigerians as a whole for displaying a high sense of resilience despite the prevailing difficulties.
However, we all agreed that street protests are not the best method of addressing our challenges. We premised our reason on historical facts, which show that most of the protests conducted in Nigeria were usually characterized by blockage of roads, harassment of passersby, intimidation, killings, looting of public warehouses, and destruction of critical national assets, among others.
Our position is also guided by the outcome and impact of street protests in some neighboring African countries, such as Sudan, Libya, and Egypt, which include violence, coup d’état, and civil war. Moreover, we have decided not to plunge into the streets because our dear country, Nigeria, is being confronted by multiple challenges, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and vandalism, and therefore, we don’t want to add salt to injury by acting out of anger, which will further divert the attention of our leaders and our gallant security forces.
More important is the appeal and exhortations by our leaders and elders, including learned ulamas, royal fathers, and senior citizens, who all advised us to rescind our earlier option of staging street protests. We are people of culture; hence, we can’t snub our wise elders.
In view of the aforementioned, we therefore unanimously agreed to shun the upcoming nationwide protest tagged “End Bad Governance.”
All members of this coalition will not partake in the protest. Instead, we are going to continue to explore non-confrontational approaches to channeling our grievances and those of our members.
In addition, while we commend the leadership at both national and sub-national levels over their efforts to address the challenges, we urge them to expedite more measures that will ameliorate the suffering of the masses by implementing more welfare schemes.
Meanwhile, we enjoin the citizens, particularly the youth, that they should not allow anarchists to use them to destabilize Nigeria.
In conclusion, we thank His Excellency, the Acting Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Farouk Lawal Jobe, who was ably represented by the Chief Of Staff, and for offering us wise counsel, which is always to put our country first before anything else.
We thank all the dignitaries that attended this dialogue, including our learned resource persons, heads of security agencies, government functionaries, media representatives, and leaders of many non-profit organizations.
We thank everyone here present.”
Long live Katsina State!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Signed:
1. Comrade Hamza Umar Saulawa…………..
National Coordinator,
2. Bishir Dauda,……………
Director, Research and Documentation.
3. Rilwanu MD Mukhtar,…………..
Director, Contact and Mobilization.