Senator Ali Ndume wants President Tinubu to address the planned nationwide protest over economic hardship using dialogue. Ndume gave the advice on Monday ahead of the planned protest billed for August 1 across the country.
According to the lawmaker, talking with the organisers who are mostly youths would help in dousing the tension and avert the planned demonstrations.
“I think the President should talk to Nigerians, talk to the youths,” the lawmaker who represents Borno South said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
‘A Listening Ear’
His comment aligns with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)’s charge for President Tinubu to dialogue with the leaders of the planned demonstration.
In a statement on Monday, the labour union said Tinubu should invite the leaders of the planned protest and listen to their grievances.
“As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances,” the NLC president Joe Ajaero said.
According to the NLC leader, with inflation reaching a new high of 34.19 per cent coupled with the hike in food and electricity tariffs among others, there is a need for Tinubu to address Nigerians.
“It is, therefore, condescending and dismissive to describe the daily brutish ordeal that Nigerians are going through as a sponsored political dissent. Even if it is so, it is still within the confines of citizens’ rights to protest on political grounds. Just that the current unease in the country does not need political motivation to spark and splurge,” Ajaero said.
“All that the hurting citizens demand from their government is a listening ear and an empathetic heart. Maybe, that is what the organisers of the protest are looking for given their continued notices on different social media platforms.”
