The Nigeria Youths for Atiku (NYFA), a support group for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition says President Bola Tinubu can address the nation and reverse some policies to ease protest threat.
The President of NYFA, Prof. Gold Emmanuel, said this in a statement signed by the group’s Director of Publicity, Dare Dada, on Saturday in Lagos.
Emmanuel said that Nigerians, however, had the right to stage protests against the current socio-economic situation.
She said that the Nigerian Constitution also put an obligation on the government to protect protesters against all forms of attacks and infiltrations by hoodlums.
The NYFA president added: “It is no longer news that Nigerians are presently going through the worst of times given the current economic situation in Nigeria.
“The government of President Bola Tinubu should address the country at this trying time, rather than shutting people up.
“This is not the practice in any advanced country where democracy reigns supreme.
“The reversal of all anti-people policies in Nigeria is also necessary amidst calls for a nationwide protest,” Emmanuel said.
According to him, government cannot exist without the people, hence the citizens’ rights must be respected.
“We must tread carefully and listen to the people that we represent,” she said.
Emmanuel, however, urged the would-be protesters to conduct themselves peacefully without resorting to violence.
“We also admonish the President to instruct all security agencies to protect them such that no life is lost,” she said.
The NYFA boss advised the President to probe into the concerns of the Nigerian businessman and Chairman/CEO of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, about oil cabals.
The professor said that President Tinubu must be desirous of bringing prosperity to its long-suffering people by taking the whistle-blowing seriously, and not with a pinch of salt.
“While still awaiting government action on this intelligence provided by Dangote, we urge the government to reinstate subsidy by reducing the price of PMS to N200.
“This is imperative since it is no longer news that the government is still paying the same subsidy.
“Since it is expected that Dangote will commence sales of refined products by August 2024, this will help the government control the price of the product, thereby alleviating the suffering of Nigerians,” Emmanuel said.
According to her, the government cannot be acting as if they are representing privileged Nigerians only.
She said, “The interests of the masses must be on the front burner, else we will get to a point where the rich will not be able to have sound sleep anymore because the poor are hungry and angry.”
Emmanuel also urged the President to instruct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce the MPR currently at 26.75 per cent and provide palliatives to the real sector.
She said that the real sector had been badly battered by the resultant effect of FX volatility.
“The provision of safety nets and tax holidays of not less than six months to the existing manufacturing companies in Nigeria will not only assist them to regain stability but will also encourage those that have left to have a rethink.
“Keeping MPR at 26 per cent will definitely discourage borrowing. The real sector cannot sustain such strangulating interest rates.
“The CBN should also be magnanimous to reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio to at least 35 per cent to 40 per cent which currently stands at 45 per cent,” he said.
Emmanuel said that this would help commercial banks in Nigeria to have more funds to lend to both manufacturers and consumers.
She said that the NYFA had chosen to support Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, while also encouraging him to give it another shot in 2027.
“This support was borne out of our belief in his 2023 manifesto, which was tailored towards solving some of the economic and political problems currently bedevilling our nation at the moment,” Emmanuel said.
There have been reports that some Nigerians, under various bodies, are planning a nationwide protest from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, over the rising cost of living and economic hardships.