Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma has voiced strong opposition to the nationwide protest scheduled for August 1-14, labeling it as ill-timed and potentially dangerous.
The Governor stated this while speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu alongside former senate president, Pius Anyim and his Ebonyi State counterpart Francis Nwifuru at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Governor Uzodinma who is the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and Progressive Governors’ Forum, expressed serious concerns about the timing and potential consequences of the proposed protests.
He highlighted the fragile nature of Nigeria’s current political climate, warning that poorly managed protests could lead to dire consequences.
Drawing parallels to the 2020 EndSARS protests which began peacefully but later turned violent, the governor warned of the risk of the planned August demonstrations being hijacked by criminal elements.
He urged citizens to remember the lessons from that experience and to be wary of creating opportunities for similar incidents.
Uzodinma also questioned the motives and organisation behind the planned protests.
He said, “Democracy is about opinion of the people and the protest is allowed in a democratic setting. Every protest must be reasonably conceived to able to make political sense.
“I think it’s too early at this time in the life of this government for anybody to come out to say he wants to protest. First of all, there have not been any engagement where those who are sponsoring the protest was able to tell us the reasons for the protests.
“Secondly, given the global situation today and the insecurity in the country, we have a very fragile political environment that if not managed and protected very well, may collapse the entire country.
“So those who are going to protest; what is the reason for the protests? And if they have no reason for the protests, I think I’ll advise well-meaning Nigerians, citizens of this country who are making sacrifices, some of us have paid the supreme price for the existence of this country, we should guide our country very jealously.
“I think it is wrong time for anybody to do any protests, because the implication of doing that if care is not taken, is that it may be hijacked. Like the ENDSARS experience, where criminals now hijacked an innocently conceived agitation by young Nigerians.
“So this is another kind of temptation that I think those behind the protests have not been able to come out openly to say they’re behind it.
“There is something that is the motive that is yet to be unravelled. So, I think that we are not in support of the protests. We are not going to support any protest that has no programmes, that is not discussed, that nobody knows what the problem is.
“Okay, if you are protesting, what do you want government to do? Because the reason for protests is that they want an issue to be addressed. What are the issues?
“So in my view, I think there is no need to overheat the polity, overheat our environment and put our people in a position that the hardship that is occasioned by economic recession all over the world is further worsened. I advise against the protests.”
