The House of Representatives Committee’s Chairman on Delegated Legislation, Rep. Femi Bamisile, said on Tuesday that the diversion of the federal government’s palliatives by state governments could be one of the main reasons behind the youths’ anger against the government and the proposed nationwide protests.
Bamisile, representing Ekiti South Federal Constituency II, emphasized that democracy thrives on dialogue, not on protests.
He also cautioned that peaceful protests can be exploited by some nefarious elements, citing the #EndSARS demonstrations as an example, where legitimate calls for reform were hijacked by troublemakers.
Bamisile urged individuals planning to protest against the severe hardship facing the nation to consider engaging in constructive dialogue with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement released to journalists in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Bamisile urged the organizers of the proposed #endbadgovernance #protest to pursue negotiation as a viable alternative to demonstrations.
He stressed that it would be more rewarding and profitable for Nigerians, no matter how aggrieved, to embrace dialogue at this trying time than to adopt the option of protest, which he said could be confrontational and counterproductive.
Bamisile said the prevailing hardship, characterized by exorbitant fuel prices and soaring food costs, necessitates a unified response from both national and subnational authorities to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
He attributed the widespread frustration and anger to these pressing issues, stressing the need for collective action to bring relief to the populace.
He said: “Protest is an alienable right of all Nigerians to agitate for any demand, provided that it will be peaceful and violence-free.
“But how sure are the proponents that these will be guaranteed, bearing in mind what happened during the Endsars protest that was hijacked by evil doers.?
“Going by estimation, Lagos State lost over a trillion Naira property to endsars protests caused by the burning of some of our national monuments.
“The organizers might mean well for the country, but they should bear in mind the political, ethnic, and religious complexities of our nation. The country belongs to us all; there is nothing wrong in a coalition calling for good governance.
“This will be in the interest of all of us. But it has to be done in the most civilized fashion, and dialogue remains the best international practice.”
To mitigate the ongoing crisis and ensure the effectiveness of the federal government’s palliative measures, Bamisile urged state governors to equitably distribute the food items provided by Tinubu’s administration.
He said: “Presently, the Federal Government is distributing 740 truckloads of rice to the 774 local governments in the country, besides the series of food palliatives that had been shared to states through our national reserves.
“Our governors must complement what the federal government is doing by making sure that these items get to the targeted population. The failure of this policy was fueling the anger in town.
“These reported cases of diversions in some states were disheartening and won’t be in the interest of anybody. I believe that citizens should begin to hold their leaders at the state level accountable for some of these wicked acts.”
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