Vice President Kashim Shettima has implored Nigerians to shun the planned nationwide protests scheduled to begin on August 1, 2024, saying it is time for unity and focused development in the country.
According to him, protest has never been a solution for nations to solve their challenges, but rather an avenue for destruction of human lives and properties, even as he called for peace and unity.
Senator Shettima spoke on Saturday as a Special Guest of Honour when the Shehu of Borno, His Royal Highness, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garba Al Amin El-Kanemi, gave out four of his daughters in marriage at a wedding ceremony in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The Vice President who personally gave out one of the Shehu’s daughters’ hand in marriage also wished the couples a most blissful marital life.
Appealing to Nigerians to shun the planned protest, he said, “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 and destruction.
He said President Tinubu feels the pulse of the nation and remained committed to making the nation’s challenges mostly inherited over the years a thing of the past.
The Vice President implored Nigerians “to keep faith with the Federal Government, adding that 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”.
Speaking on the peace that is fully gradually returning to Borno State, the Vice President 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 round our governor who is working tirelessly to address our developmental deficits and also bring succour to the downtrodden.
Noting 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.
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
