By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
ORGANIZED and Unorganized youths in Kogi State have dissociated themselves from the planned nationwide #EndBadGovernance Protest slated to commence from Thursday August 1.
The youths at a press conference Organized by the state Ministry of Youth and Sports Development at the NUJ Press Centre, Lokoja, expressed their abhorrence of l protests saying they never produced fruitful results.
Hon. Monday Anyebe, the state Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development urged the the youths, especially the students to shun the proposed Protest as it would only be counterproductive being orchestrated to distabilize the government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Anyebe said the protest which has gained enormous traction especially in Abuja and Lagos is ill-timed adding, “leading a protest at a time like this will be counterproductive and will instead, jeopardize public peace.”
He argued that the motive behind the protest, inciting the youth against the leaders and president, was politically motivated and not serve the interest of the suffering masses.
Hon. Kingsley Femi Fanwo, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications in his remarks urged youths in the state to learn from the transformative, dynamic and pragmatic leadership of the Commissioner as a youth.
Fanwo urged the youths to avail themselves of the Kogi State Youth Engagement Summit Organized by the state government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, slated for Thursday where a lot of positive policy statements would be churned out by Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo.
He said that street protest would bring no food to the table neither would it be used to reduce food price inflation as it would rather aggravate the situation.
“When they loot the shops, the price of foodstuff stuff and other commodities will increase. They want to destroy Nigeria. Kogi youths that have not benefited enough from Nigeria want the country to progress.
Comrade Benjamin Jeremiah Ojodale, Chairman of state chapter of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) urged the youths not to yield to the “faceless” perpetrators of the protest who are bent on subverting the efforts of the Central Government.
“If protest and violence are good, let their children come and lead and we will follow them. Youths of Kogi, organized and Unorganized are saying, ‘We are not going to be part of any protest.’
“We have set modalities to enforce our non participation with seven committees which are up and doing to know and make sure no plan in this direction succeeds”, he said.
Also speaking, Dr Jeremiah Elukpo, National President of National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS) said, the association had had meetings with its structures and no member would participate in the protest.
Rather, he said, over 2,000 youths are expected to throng the Youth Engagement Summit with Governor Ododo on Wednesday to consolidate on the achievements of the government and evolve new policies that would better their lives. (Ends)