Vice-President Kashim Shettima has appealed to the youths to shun the planned nationwide protest scheduled to begin on Aug. 1, 2024.
The Vice-President, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday by his Spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, made the appeal at the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Dr Abubakar El-Kanemi, in Maiduguri.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shettima served as the Special Guest of Honour at the wedding ceremony of four daughters of the Shehu of Borno.
Shettima, who personally gave out one of the Shehu’s daughters’ hand in marriage, also wished the couple a most blissful marital life.
According to the Vice-President, it is time for unity and focused development in the country.
Shettima stated that protest has never been a solution for nations to solve their challenges, but rather an avenue for the destruction of human lives and properties.
The Vice-President, who called for peace and unity, appealed to Nigerians to shun the planned protest.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on our people to eschew violence. There can never be development without peace; there can never be peace without development.
” I wish to implore all our youths not to follow the path of anarchy, destruction,” Shettima said.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu feels the pulse of the nation and remains committed to making the nation’s challenges mostly inherited over the years a thing of the past.
He also implored Nigerians to keep faith with the Federal Government.
“In no distant time, all of the administration’s efforts at emphatically repositioning the nation as one with the most powerful economy and social welfare for its citizens will become obvious”.
On the gradual return of peace in Borno State, Shettima said ”We have had enough challenges in Borno, in the subregion and the nation as a whole.
“This is a time for unity, this is a time for focused development. And for the people of Borno, I will ask them to rally around our governor who is working tirelessly to address our developmental deficits and also bring succour to the downtrodden.
“The only way we can show solidarity with the governor is for our people to shy away from dancing to the tune of the bandits and idiots.
“The idiots are fomenting mischief from the comfort of Australia, Finland and the United States – all the so-called social media influencers.”
He noted that the masterminds of the proposed nationwide protest were operating from outside the shores of the country.
The Vice-President asked the citizens to draw lessons from what happened in Sudan, Syria and Libya.
“They are not in this country; we need to learn a lot of lessons from what happened in Syria and Libya.
”So, what they are agitating for is a road to Khartoum, what they are agitating for is a road to Damascus, what they are clamouring for is a part to Tripoli.
“And, Insha Allah ( by God’s grace) the people of Nigeria will not dance to the tune of these anarchists and saboteurs.”
He assured that President Bola Tinubu-led administration remains committed to pulling the nation out of the woods.
Shettima emphasised that Tinubu’s administration would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the welfare and lives of Nigerians are improved drastically.