A Hungry Man Is An Angry Man But Hardship Protest Must Not Be Allowed – APGA Warns

The All Progressives Grand Alliance or APGA has warned that the planned August protest against hardship must not be allowed to happen even as he recognised the fact that a hungry man is an angry man.

The party handed down the warning on Wednesday via its Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Chekwas Okorie, in Abuja.

Okorie, who’s the founder and pioneer national chairman of the party was speaking when he emerged as the BoT chairman of the troubled party warning of potential chaos and violence in a country he said is already on the brink due to widespread hardship.

The strike which has been gathering momentum and has forced President Bola Tinubu to plead for time is being influenced by events in another West African country, Kenya.

Young Kenyans called Gen-Z have staged an unprecedented protest for weeks over tax forcing the president to withdraw the policy and concede to the youth’s key demands.

The protest has morphed into calls for the president to resign with young Kenyans saying he has lost the trust of the people.

Nigerian youth have cited the Kenyan protest as a catalyst to draw the government’s attention to the economic hardship. Although the government has called for dialogue and time to correct certain measures, organisers of the protest have said it’s too little too late.

Okorie warned that “Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder… So my advice would be that we should not go the way of a protest.

“If it happens, it will become an ill wind that will blow nobody any good, including the sponsors and those in government.

“A hungry man is an angry man. An angry man is irrational, and an irrational man can be violent. This chain of events is what the government in power must be conscious of,” he stressed.

He emphasised, “We must advise ourselves that let’s give this government more time to see whether things will change.

“We have advised our people in the Southeast not to participate in this protest. We are confident to say that you are unlikely to see any Igbo individuals taking part in these planned protests.

“We understand that ultimately, some individuals may be used as scapegoats. I believe that our counterparts in Yorubaland should also take similar actions. The same goes for those in the North.

“By doing so, we can help pacify our people. However, this is not something where you can issue a marching order or threaten them. If you do, they will resist and you will not be able to overcome them,” he stated.

He added, “I’ve also seen some genuine measures of this government to make things better… Since the government came into power, the real harvest season we are seeing is the one that will occur between now and the end of the year.”

The BoT chairman also lambasted government officials for their extravagant lifestyle, which he described as ‘provocative’ and capable of fueling anger among the population.

“The leadership must be more sensitive to the yearnings of the people. And they must be more open.

“Their extravagant lifestyle is very provocative in a situation like this… They must rein in their thirst for vulgarity because when you preach to the hungry man to give the government a chance, the government officials are not encouraging that hungry man to be able to give them any chance.

“I expect the president to have an in-house meeting, come up with policies that we will rein in (his officials) because these people are not prepared to live a life that will encourage others to make sacrifices,” the APGA founder said.