A non-governmental organisation, (NGO), Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, (BBPF), has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately address the nation on the concerns and demands of citizens and save the country from descending into anarchy.
Its Executive Director , Rafiu Lawal, in a press statement issued on Friday, condemned in its entirety the tactics and handling of the ongoing national protest over bad governance and negative effects of government’s economic policies across Nigeria by the Tinubu administration.
He said , “As a youth-led NGO working on peace-building in Nigeria, we are deeply concerned by the various attempts of the Government to clamp down, infiltrate protesters, securitise young people and their genuine concerns over the untold hardships meted on citizens of Nigeria”.
He warned that “closing the democratic space and arena of participation for peaceful protests and demonstrations may force the aggrieved to seek other clandestine means of expressing their grievances, which may jeopardise the already fragile stability and peace that Nigeria enjoys and reverse all seeds of peace planted in recent years by all peace actors.
“We, therefore, call on all citizens, young and old, to continue to exercise their fundamental human rights to assembly in a peaceful and non-violent manner. We call on both Governments and citizens to shun violence and come to a dialogue and advice against any destruction of national assets, public infrastructure and use of violence as this would only add salt to injury”.
“We appeal to all security agencies to avoid confrontation with protesters, but rather, offer protection as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the country’s ‘National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security’ adopted in 2021”, he further stated .
