The federal government has described the agitations by some Nigerians, largely in the South-East, as “completely…..legitimate.”
There have been mass protests by Igbos
in South-East Nigeria for an independent country of Biafra. The protests
have sometimes gone violent with reported deaths of about six people,
allegedly at the hands of security officials
The protests got worse following the
arrest and prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu, the promoter of Radio Biafra, a
pirate radio the Nigerian government accuses of spreading hate and
violence.
The Minister of Information, Lai
Mohammed, who spoke on the agitations, however said the basic cause of
it was “economic” which would have gotten worse but for the efforts of
the current administration.
Speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria
Forum in Abuja at the weekend, Mr. Mohammed appealed to leaders in the
country not to exploit the economic situation to further destabilise
Nigerians.
He also urged Nigerian leaders to be
courageous enough to come out and defend the unity of the country even
though “in the short term it might be politically fashionable for them
to be on the side of some agitators.”
The minister, who noted that current
agitations by citizens were “completely legitimate,” assured of the
Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening the economy.
“There are many political frontlines in
Nigeria, religious, ethnic and the like but these things do not come to
the fore until when there are serious economic problems like we are
having today.
“I have listened to the complaints of many of these agitators and right down it is economic.
“They must understand too that but for this furtiveness of this administration, this country would have been by far much worse.
“There is need for Nigerians to
understand also that these are not ordinary times and that the
government is not just making excuses.
“I appeal to our leaders not to exploit
this situation to further destabilise Nigerians; our leaders should be
courageous enough to come out and defend our unity.
“In the short term, it might be
politically fashionable for them to be on the side of some agitators but
in the long term, it is in the overall interest of Nigeria that we all
understand our differences, respect them forge a united Nigeria.
“There will be no alternative to one united Nigeria.”
The minister emphasised the need for government to have accurate and timely information on complaints presented by citizens.
“The most important thing is that the government must do a lot of self-assessment itself.
“The government has the responsibility
to listen to all; it also has the responsibility to analyse issues to
see which complaints are genuine and those that are not and look into
them.”
He also stressed the need for the
government to take advantage of different media platforms to make
accurate information on its policies and plans available to citizens at
all times.
He said that the availability of timely
information would curtail agitations, rebuff rumours, and enhance
citizens’ understanding of government’s plans and policies.
The minster urged the media to take
advantage of available opportunities to “dominate” the social media
platforms with positive and accurate information about the country.
He further said that such dominance would pre-empt negative information and activities on such platforms.
“At times some of the agitations might be because the government is not adequately publicising what it is doing.
“Some of the agitations could also arise from lack of understanding of government policies.
“Unfortunately, we have allowed the social media to dictate the agenda for us; that must stop immediately.
“If, for instance, we dedicate platforms that churn out positive stories, very soon other negative platforms become irrelevant.
“It is only the absence of an alternative narrative with the correct information that makes such other platforms relevant.”
He stated that churning out accurate information will present a positive image of Nigeria to the international community.
(NAN)
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