Hardship: ‘Protests, Violence Will Not Solve Anything’ — Lagos Assembly Tells Nigerians

The Lagos State House of Assembly has said that resorting to protests and violence because of the current economic challenges in the country will not solve the fundamental problems, but rather take the nation backwards.

As a result of the challenging economic situation, there have been protests in Niger, Kano, Ibadan, among others.

The House asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to summon a stakeholders’ meeting immediately to address the current hardship being experienced by residents of the state.

This, the House noted, is in order for the government to adopt sustainable solutions beyond palliatives.

At plenary on Tuesday, Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, said the current economic downturn was not the fault of President Bola Tinubu, nor is it Sanwo-Olu’s fault.

He stressed that there is a need for collaboration to address the mess.

“No doubt, there is a challenge before us as representatives of the people and it is the duty of all of us to proffer solutions.

“This is a situation that started long ago in Nigeria and was graduating. It is unfortunate that we are facing this now. The dollar issue did not start now. The prices of food and how farmers had been prevented from going to farms as a result of insecurity did not start now.

“The most unfortunate thing about it has to do with the comments coming from some leaders of the country. Instead of using their wisdom to appeal to the people, they use their words to incite people against the government as if they have not been in the country before now.

“We cannot leave the Federal Government alone to proffer solutions to our problems. There is no ‘abracadabra’ about it.

“The immediate concern is to appeal to our people. Protests and violence will not solve anything but take us backwards. Nobody prayed for the current situation but we must work hand-in-hand to take us away from this mess. It is not the president’s fault, neither is it the governor’s fault,” Obasa said, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Eromosele Ebhomele.

The Speaker directed that the commissioners for agriculture and transportation, Ruth Abisola Olusanya and Oluwaseun Osiyemi, respectively as well as related parastatals and agencies be invited to brief the House on their plans to ameliorate the suffering of people.

“All this while, we have been talking about sports to take our youth off the streets as we have seen in other countries. Let us inject money into it and make it attractive so that they would be engaged. Our system of education must also be adjusted to emphasise what students can become on their own without seeking or applying for jobs.

“There is a need for orientation and sensitisation. There are a lot of complaints and negatives out there. The government should also embark on campaigns and orientation to make the people know the real situation and what is being done. The government’s voice must be louder than those who are hell-bent on destroying the country,” he said.

Speaking earlier under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, Segun Adebisi Ege representing Ojo Constituency 1 lamented the hardship rocking the state.

Ege asked that Sanwo-Olu be called upon to subsidise transportation and prices of food items in the state.

While the country’s inflation rate is about 29.90 percent, based on January figure from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is projecting inflation to average 21.5 this year from an estimated average of 24.5 percent in 2023.

The slowdown in inflationary pressure, the association said, would be driven by lower deficit monetisation structurally, relative exchange rate stability, and other heightened monetary measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).