A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Uche Nwosu, has appealed to Nigerians to shelve the nationwide planned protest and allow President Bola Tinubu to fix the nation.
The chief of staff to former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, disclosed that it would be unfair to expect a government that has just spent a year in office to quickly fix the rots that plagued the country for decades.
Nwosu made the plea in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday.
His appeal comes barely 24 hours after the ruling APC called on concerned parents to watch the movement of their wards to prevent them from being recruited for violence ahead of the nationwide protest.
The demonstration, scheduled to run from August 1 to 10, has continued to generate tension and elicit mixed reactions from Nigerians.
Several groups who indicated interest in championing the campaign said the call for protest was provoked by the soaring cost of living and economic hardship in the country.
But Nwosu insisted that the president should be given time to ‘correct all the abnormalities.’
He said, “Let me use this opportunity to appeal to our beloved Nigerian youths to give peace a chance. We are indeed passing through hard times in our dear nation. But we cannot give up like those who do not have hope. It is true that in a democracy citizens have the right to protest but most often the protests in Nigeria where we have 250 ethnic groups do not end well.
“For instance, the EndSARS protest where a very peaceful protest was being hijacked by people who do not mean well for the country at the end of the day properties worth billions of naira and many lives were lost. Yes, President Bola Tinubu’s policies and reforms might be harsh now. But at the end of every tunnel, there will be light.
“He is barely a year in office. Why don’t we give him time to correct all the abnormalities we have seen in this country, the abnormalities of yesterday? Let’s give him time to correct them so that we can have a country of our collective hopes and aspirations. There is no place like home. Nigeria is our country. Let’s have a country where you and I will live and say this is our country.”
(PUNCH)