NYSF declares planned protest an aberration to unity of Nigeria

By Tunde Opalana

The National Youth Stakeholders Forum (NYSF), a convention of all political, social and cultural youth groups in Nigeria has described the planned nationwide protest as an aberration to the development of the country.

The group which aim at defending the course of the Nigerian Youth who are the victim of the highest and slightest inadequacies of the governance system in country Nigeria said protest against the incumbent government is not the solution to seeming challenges facing the nation.

Hon. Chinazam Ike, Vice Chairman, NYSF who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Saturday said the NYSF was born to rejuvenate the spirit of nationalism which is anchored on the energy of the youth and strategy(wisdom) of the elders.

The body called on its members and many other youth groups to shun the protest which could be counter – productive.

He said the NYSF has specific interest in the development of the Nigerian state but more specifically it’s interest is in the effective utilization as a vehicle for rapid social and economic development of the country.

“Therefore the Forum is averse with any and indeed all the factors that have continued to choke the Nigerian Youth out of productive existence.

“To this end we strongly agree with the spirit and the letter of holding government accountable, airing views or even expressing displeasures, these are not just fundamentals of a democracy or free society, they are the very foundations upon which the founding fathers of our nation built it.”

On why the group is against the planned protest, he said NYSF abhorred the consequent weaponization of protest to initiate political instability is what we are averse with.

“We have seen many stories around the African countries where peaceful protests have led to peaceful resolution of social issues, we have equally seen situations where nations crumble at the instance that peaceful protests become weaponized by desperate politicians to create political instability, usurp power of truncate the very democracy that guaranteed the right and liberties of protests in the first place.

“We have strong reasons to believe that the proposed protests favour the latter, we have confidential and classified information that has alluded to the interference of the proposed protest by politicians who see it as a means of settling their political scores.

“As youth who owe a responsibility to the present and the future of our nation, we find it unpatriotic to go ahead and provide an enabling environment for desperate politicians to take advantage of to concoct instability.

“The bane of the economy of our dear Nation has been our inability to transform our resources into equitable wealth like other oil rich nations have done. As a matter of fact the artificial hardship that the country is facing is occasioned by its inability to provide affordable fuel which powers the economy of the nation.”

The NYSF therefore demanded from President Bola Tinubu the immediate restoration of the functionality of the nation’s four refineries to full operational capacity to guarantee the availability, affordability and sustainability of fuel which is the power source of the economy.

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“Consequently, the National Youth Stakeholders Forum which is the umbrella body of all political, social and cultural youth organizations not barring the right and liberties of young people to assemble, associate and express themselves as guaranteed by our constitution, but in recognition of the greater good of sustaining the political stability of our country, which is the only circumstance under which we can contemplate the political choices and decisions we have, are drawing the curtain on the proposed protest to which it had not just been an interested party or a vested interest but had been careful initiators.

“In the greater interest of our dear nation we announce the unanimous decisions of all the youth stakeholders in Nigeria to declare the proposed protest an aberration and their non participation.

“This decision was not arrived at hastily, craftily or selfishly, but after careful assessment of the past, the present and the projection of the future of our beloved nation.

“We are confident that in the coming days, it will become more evident to the youth of the nation and indeed all citizens that we have acted in the best interest of our beloved nation, even as we continue to pursue the actualization of our demands with the government with whom we are willing to commence negotiation of terms to help improve the lot of the Nigerian Youth. “