The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the ?hanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday dissociated themselves from the protest being planned by some shadowy groups.
Also yesterday Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani cautioned Norths youths to shun call for protest.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), however, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address grievances being expressed by those planning the protest.
ACF National Chairman, Mamman Mike Osuman, said the indices that track human progress, including poverty, illiteracy, health, and security of life and property, tend to place the North at the back.
He dissociated the group from the proposed protest, saying that it is ill-timed and counter-productive.
Osuman said: We, at ACF, remain committed to articulating and defending the interests of the peoples of the North through our various activities. One such was the recently constituted Technical Committee that reviewed the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by the ACF.
The report of the Technical Committee formed the basis of ACFs submission to the joint committees of the National Assembly on Constitution review. Our input will be formally made available to the Northern Governors Forum.
The ACF chair, who spoke during a meeting with the Kaduna State governor. The Governor urged Northerners to shun what he described as toxic politics and join hands to pull the region back from the brink.
Governor Sani advised them to reflect on insecurity, which has retarded regional development, instead of embarking on protest.
Also, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, ?hanaeze Ndigbo, maintained that the people of Southeast will not participate in the protest.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, ?hanaeze said that Nigerians should understand that the current economic situation will not last forever. According to the group, tough times never last, but tough people do..
The statement reads: ?hanaeze Ndigbo seizes this opportunity to reiterate our position with respect to the widely publicised nationwide protest scheduled for the days of August, 2024.
On February, 20, 2024, the President General of ?hanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, directed the Igbo not to join in the protest against President Bola Tinubu.
The Igbo leader explained that Igbo youths and youths from other ethnic groups at various times expressed their dissatisfaction with events in the country.
Similarly, Jigawa State branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and NLC also disassociated themselves from the protest.
They said they would not join the protest during their meeting with the State governor, Umar Namadi, in Dutse, the State capital. The governor said protest will not resolve the economic crisis, urging the youths to be patient with the government.
CAN leader, Rev. Father Maurice Hassan said: CAN in Jigawa State is not and will not be part of the protest. We want peace. I am appealing to the Government to find a solution. People are in serious situation.
The State’s NLC Chairman, Sunusi Alhassan, also said: We are not and will not be part of this protest because our national secretariat is not party to it.
Also, the President of Jigawa State NANS, Comrade Abdullahi Garba, said students would not allow any selfish individual or group to use them to distablise the peace of the nation.
