The Oyo State chapter of the Yoruba Leaders of Thought, a socio-cultural group in the Yoruba-speaking state of Nigeria, has urged those planning to protest in the country to shelve the idea.
It chairman, a former deputy governor, Iyiola Oladokun, in a statement made available by the group’s spokesperson Emmanuel Adelowo (AMEYE), advocated peaceful development in Nigeria by calling on youths and the Masses to exercise restraints.
The group called on all leaders to start reining in youths and masses to embrace dialogue to solve the country’s problems.
According to the group, “We have always had protests in our country. We had Ali Must Go in the 70s, June 12th debacle in the 90s, EndSARS protest of 2020s, and many untagged Protests. It has always been a way by the youths and the Masses to rejig their grievances on one thing or the other.
“There will always be grievances even in advanced countries of the word. Therefore, the need will always arise for protest. But have we ever asked ourselves if these protests always bring the desired goals? It’s like we are exhibiting signs of lack of interest in the assessment of shortcomings in whatever we do in Africa and particularly in Nigeria. We have all seen that the end results of Protests have always been greater disaster. Lives would be lost, Property destroyed, wastages will manifest, future of most of our youths destroyed. For how long shall we continue in these wastages and destructions? It’s time we value more the lives of our future assets and start influencing our masses to be more productive in embracing dialogue to solve our problems instead of protest for destructions.
“It’s time for sober reflection on our country, on our youths, and on our Masses for good. We have so many agents of distractions and distructions in our midst. They need our preaching, counselling, and prayers all the time, especially now when their attentions have been captured by the lovers of chaos propagating Protests and Demonstrations. I think it’s the responsibility of all genuine leaders irrespective of religious affiliations and political leanings to shout out to our youths and masses. Now, our youths should also listen to the voice of reason from our Traditional Rulers, Religious Leaders, and Leaders of various patriotic interest groups and not allow themselves to be used by people with ulterior motives who, among other things, want to get what they desperately coveted but couldn’t get through the ballot box. The bitter experiences of the #EndSARS is still very fresh in our memory, where those who call out our youths could be of no help when the protest was hijacked by those who don’t wish our dear country well. They should rest their cases and allow the government to implement it’s various intervention policies so that our dear country can achieve the goals we are all advocating for. The planned protest can never bring anything good in Nigeria. It’s time to rethink properly. God help us.”
