August 1st mass protest: Tinubu in closed-door meeting with governors; Afenifere support planned protest; We won’t allow you mobilise for anarchy _ DHL warns intending protesters

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, met separately with Governors and a select team of traditional rulers in continuation of his engagements and Mobilisation against the August 1st, #EndBadGovernance protest.

The President’s engagements with the Governors led to the shelving of the regular National Economic Council meeting.

Recall that Mohammed Idris had hinted that the President will in the next few days widen his engagements with all strata of Nigerians as part of efforts to stop the mass protests.

The President met with the Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) behind closed-door at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Governors had arrived at the Villa in a bus and were immediately ushered into the President’s office.

The meeting is not unconnected to efforts by the President to put in place measures that will stop the planned August 1st to 10th protest against the present administration.

Since the news of the protest broke, the government has tried to assuage the promoters with President Tinubu asking them to shelve the idea and await the government’s response to their grievances.

The Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) also called on the organisers Wednesday night to shelve the planned protest.

Hope Uzodimma, while speaking after the meeting, said they were inviting the organizers of the planned protest to discuss the issue and their grievances.

According to him, “We don’t know what they are protesting for. We invite all of them to sit down with us in a room so we can discuss and agree on the issues, and what they are and proffer solutions.

“We as a body, we are committed to the unity of the country, we are committed to whatever thing that makes Nigerians live better lives, bring prosperity, jobs to be created for young boys and girls who graduated to be employed,” he said.

Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation is in supports the planned nationwide protest, stressing the root cause as strictly economical, not political.

Justice Faloye the Publicity Secretary has clarified that while the organisation does not intend to participate in the planned nationwide protest, it supports individuals exercising their fundamental rights to protest.

In an interview with ARISE NEWS Thursday, Faloye emphasised that their stance is rooted in the longstanding concerns over Nigeria’s economic policies, which they believe are flawed and ineffective.

“Afenifere is not planning to be a part of the protest but we support anybody who wants to protest. I mean, it is their fundamental human rights and because we in Afenifere has been warning about the economic policies and that if you continue with the subisdies and high inflations, there is no way you can stop people, especially when they look at what is on the table, they realise there is nothing for them and you say give us some time. Time for what?

“Right from the beginning, we have shown you that you have gone on the wrong path. Afenifere has been saying we need economic, political of this country. But all we have is palliatives and superficial moves that we know cannot resolve anything. So, we are not sponsoring the protest but we support it. We understand that this is an organic reaction.”

Addressing concerns about anarchy and potential violence during protests, Faloye stated that history has shown that protests often become violent when the government attempts to suppress them.

While stressing that the root of the protests is rather economical and not political, he urged the government to address the economic issues at hand rather than resorting to forceful measures.

“Talking about the anarchy, we don’t believe that people will come out and start burning. We have seen years and years of protests and we realised that it becomes violent when the government tries to stop it. It is when you want to force the people that things will just explode.

“So, the anarchy is actually the government that needs to be pleaded with because the body language of accusing or making it political; this is not a political issue but an economic issue”

The Afenifere spokesperson further highlighted the need for a comprehensive economic restructuring, pointing out that the current policies are theories that have failed in other black countries.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the administration’s approach to infrastructure development, advocating for a focus on heavy manufacturing and a comprehensive railway complex to stimulate economic growth.

“There is nothing we can do immediately because we have a rotten economy. I mean the fundamentals of the economy and the political system needs to be changed. We want to see economic restructure. We want him to build meaningful infrastructure.

“We believe that for Nigeria, we need heavy manufacturing jobs and the only way you can get heavy manufacturing jobs like other industrialised countries, is to build a full railway complex because that is the largest iron and plastic business which now has the highest multiplier effect.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has issued a stern warning to intending protesters, stating that the military will not tolerate any attempt to use protests as a cover for anarchy or terror.

Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, conveyed this message during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

Buba expressed concerns that the planned nationwide protest could escalate into chaos and violence based on the military’s analysis, noting that the military has scrutinised various factors, including potential motivations by opposition groups, independent parties, foreign interference, or terrorist organisations.

“For us in the military, the constitution is clear as to how and when the military gets involved. The constitution also clearly defines the roles and functions of the armed forces. On the other hand, while citizens have a constitutional right to peaceful protest, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy in order to unleash terror.

Buba compared the current situation to unrest in Kenya, which has been marked by ongoing violence. He warned that there were indications of attempts to hijack the protest for violent purposes.

“Based on the foregoing, the level of violence envisaged is best described as a state of anarchy. It is for this reason the armed forces will not watch and allow the nation spiral out of control to such low levels.

“Basically, the military has been exposed to wars and have witnessed situations of anarchy in countries ravaged by war, particularly during ECOMOG or during peacekeeping operations.

“It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation,’’ he added.