Akwa Ibom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno has warned that if the youths insist on participating in the planned nationwide hunger protest, they must maintain the existing peace in the state by not allowing miscreants and hoodlums to hijack the protest.
Eno gave the warning on Tuesday while addressing critical stakeholders comprising leaders of youth groups, Market Associations, organized labour and Civil Society Organizations,(CSO), among others.
He stressed that there was no reason for the #End Badgovernance protest in the state given his administration’s commitment and efforts towards improving the welfare and wellbeing of the people through the various interventions put in place.
His words, “Let me also emphasize that we are a peaceful State and we have maintained this hard-won peace, over the years. I want to appeal, if at all, you will participate in the planned protest to please do so peacefully.
“You must ensure that miscreants and hoodlums do not hijack your protest. The question, however, remains: Should the protest take place here, given our people-friendly disposition, our deep and abiding concerns for the welfare of our people, the workers in the public service, the care for the poor and the most vulnerable, our intentional concentration of resources to giving hope to the hopeless?
“We have paid over N22 billion in gratuities to the retired Primary School, Local Government and State Civil Service retirees and N50,000 stipend to the elderly in our ARISE Elderly Care Initiative.
“Our free voucher programme through our Bulk Purchase Agency has so far touched 314, 422 families in the state, the social transfers to the aged, physically challenged, chronically ill, and widows have equally impacted and touched over two hundred thousand beneficiaries drawn from the revised Social Register.
“We have also paid a wage award for three months to cushion the effect of the high cost of living arising from the removal of fuel subsidy. We paid the 13-month salary tagged ’Enomber’ last December and about a month ago, paid 1.1 billion Naira as a bonus to all public service workers to mark the ‘Public Service Week.’
“We have released the 2023 promotion and increased the pensions of those who retired before 2012. We have approved the release of the outstanding 7.7 per cent Contributory Pension to contributors. The conduct of Service-wide examinations in preparation for the 2024 promotions has been approved,” he said.
In their separate remarks, the youth groups, students, market associations and organised labour commended the Governor for his commitment towards the people’s welfare and general development of the State, assuring that they won’t take part in the planned protest.
Similarly, the representative of the CSOs, Mr Harry Udoh, commended the governor for impacting every sector of the society through palliative, bursary, skill training and empowerment, and prompt payment of salaries, among others and appealed that the ongoing distribution of palliative across the state should be done judiciously
Contributing, the Oku Ibom Ibibio and President-General of the Akwa Ibom Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk, applauded the Governor for being intentional in his development efforts.
The Royal father stressed that the planned protest was not necessary in Akwa Ibom and urged everyone to continue to support the current administration for more dividends of democracy.
Also reacting to the planned protest, retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Udom Ekpoudom appealed to the youths of the Niger Delta region to shun the protest, saying that similar protest held in the past never solved the country’s problems.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who spoke during an interview in Uyo, described the decision by organizers of the protest as “rash”, stressing that what the current administration needs was the support and collective contributions of all and sundry including opposition parties to see how to address the hardship in the country.
“I don’t see how the protest will help Nigeria solve its problems; Protests can never be the solution to our problems. In fact I am worried that the protest may even worsen the situation if it is hijacked by hoodlums like what happened during the#ENDSARS “protest in 2020.
“So I don’t support the idea of embarking on a protest because it is counterproductive. At the end, it will only increase the suffering people are going through in this country. It is going to scare away foreign investors. We should always be careful when we do these kind of things.
“What will bring about positive change is for everyone to support the government to succeed in its programmes aimed at addressing the challenges of this country. So, l am saying all hands must be on deck to move the economy of Nigeria forward”
Ekpoudom expressed concern that some unpatriotic Nigerians were sabotaging the economy of the country, especially the opposition parties, plotting to grab power at all cost.
“So I am appealing to the organisers of the planned protest to sheathe their swords if they love this country. For the Niger Delta youths please don’t join the protest”, Ekpoudom appealed.
