Tinubu meets with traditional rulers, urge youths to forgo protest

A meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Traditional Rulers has ended with an appeal to the youth to forego the planned protest.
Although the government is yet to state that effect, traditional rulers interviewed warned that the planned protest could destroy the gains already achieved.
During the interaction, the Dein of Agbor in Delta State, Benjamin Ikenchukwu Keagborekuzi, said the President had good intentions for the country, but that he needs more time to put things in order.
“I think if you give us a chance, this protest, I know it’s catching you very, very high in your neck, but if you give us a chance, let us not destroy our country.
I ask you, let us think of Libya. Libya was a beautiful country. What has happened to Libya, we don’t want it to happen here. Let’s go home and strive the best that we can and continue to work with the government to see if we can proffer some solution”, he advised.
In the same manner, the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, said the meeting was satisfied with the presentations made by President Tinubu and the Minister of Finance, which depicted the path the government has taken to make Nigeria better.
“I urge the agitators to be calm and exercise patience, and also to listen to the words of wisdom coming from the traditional rulers and their Governors”, he said.
He explained that the meeting had told the President about the real situation some of his economic policies had engendered, adding that in response, the President showed them the blueprint guiding his decisions.
“We have made it clear to him that our main problem in this country, especially in the North here is security issue. If the security situation is addressed, certainly people will go back to their farms, so the issue of hunger will drastically go down”, the Emir stated.
Alhaji Nuhu Bamalli said they were worried about the protest and the consequences it would leave behind and called on parents to prevail on their wards to stop the protest.
“But let them put a face to it and shouldn’t allow it to be hijacked by people that have ulterior motives. That is our stand. We condemn such acts fully, the youth, coming out to start looting, to start breaking down law and order. We are parents, we are traditional rulers, we are closer to them, we are going to go back home and continue to engage them.
It is very difficult to build, but it is the easiest to destroy. We are all stakeholders of this country, we should be stronger as a nation together, than stronger individually.
“We know that challenges are so many in Nigeria, we know that, but are we going to destroy our nation by ourselves? Is that what we’re all after?”, he asked.
Our State House correspondent reports that the meeting had in attendance some State Governors, who apparently escorted traditional rulers from the States.
The President has also gone into another round of meetings with the Ulama.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, convened a similar meeting with ministers on Wednesday to discuss the proposed nationwide protest against economic hardship by Nigerian youths.
Over 40 ministers, including Nyesom Wike, Yusuf Tuggar, Zephaniah Jisalo, Tahir Mamman, Abubakar Bagudu, Wale Edun, Mohammed Idris, Bello Matawalle, David Umahi, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
On Tuesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appealed to Nigerians to stop the planned protest, saying the government was already taking steps to address all the issues raised by the aggrieved people.
Other relevant stakeholders have also called for dialogue instead of resorting to protest.
Reporting by Abdullah Bello