July 30, (THEWILL) – The Presidency, on Tuesday, faulted the slogan of the planned protest scheduled for Thursday, August 1, saying there is no bad government in Nigeria at the moment but a thinking government.
Tagged, #EndBadGovernance Protest, the demonstration has been scheduled to be held across all states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to protest the current economic hardship in the country.
Speaking at the Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture, 2024, themed: “Rapidly Changing Media Landscape: Media Survival Strategies”, Senior Special Assistant on Media to President Bola Tinubu, Tunde Rahman, said the faceless protesters do not have hope and warned youths against going to the streets to protest.
Rahman, who urged intending protesters to show understanding, noted that Nigeria’s economic challenges are not peculiar but global issues.
He said, “Our people have a right to protest and it is their right to do so. But we don’t know who the people behind this protest are. They are faceless, they have no hope.
“I’m calling a lot of us to not go on the street. We have to be mindful of the real motive of people who are calling us to join in the protest.
“Yes, challenges are there. Our economy is in turmoil. And this is not peculiar to Nigeria. Most of the world’s economies are in turmoil at the moment.
“The President is doing his best to address this problem. They’ve tagged the protest end to bad governance. I do not think we have bad governance at the moment. We have a thinking government. Some problems need to be addressed and some of the solutions that have been applied will resolve the problem sooner than later.
“I want to appeal to our colleagues to show understanding, to show restraint, to be prudent, and to wear the toga of eminence, statesmen and women at this time.
“To know that some of the policies that have been addressed have their gestational period. Let’s give these policies time to mature. I talked about restraint because I’ve seen headlines like hunger protests and hardship protests. Let us show understanding.”
