The Kogi government, on Sunday, advised residents of the state to shun any violent protests against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The information commissioner, Kingsley Fanwo, who gave the advice in a statement issued in Lokoja, urged the residents to rather join the Not+My-State Movement Against Violent Protest.

Mr Fanwo said any protest that could negatively affect the nation’s economy should vehemently be resisted by all and sundry.

He said that the protests would have been understandable if we were not gradually moving out of the hopeless situation.

“But a protest at this point is an attack on the foundation of our rebuilding process and an attempt to throw the nation into the darkness orchestrated during the #EndSars destruction and carnage.

“It will be understood if the opposition feels disappointed that our economy is gradually retaining momentum and therefore would not offer them the opportunity to campaign against the ruling party using those parameters.

“But it is unacceptable and utterly unpatriotic to stoke violence at this period in the name of protest.

“The citizens have a right to protest but they do not owe the unpatriotic opposition elements the window of violence.

“Kogi government wishes to state clearly that it is totally in solidarity with efforts at the centre and sub-national levels to put the economy of our dear nation on the right track.

“The President and commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, is working assiduously to get the nation’s economy working again.

“Apart from the fiscal and monetary policies that are already yielding positive results, the Federal Government has injected economic stimulating incentives to address the challenges we are facing.

“This is being done through short, medium and long-term Sectors like Agriculture, industrialisation, infrastructure, education and healthcare are receiving due attention from the federal government.

“Invariably, Gov. Usman Ododo’ s administration is completely committed to ensuring the central efforts percolate into the state as we have begun massive investments in agriculture, education, healthcare and infrastructure, ” he said.

The commissioner said that the government had also continued to support homes across the state with palliatives to cushion the effects of the economic hardship occasioned by decades of mismanagement that the Tinubu Administration is working hard to correct.

“As responsible citizens, there is a need to queue behind the efforts of the government at all levels to frontally deal with the issues challenging our well-being.”

He said that credible intelligence had pointed undoubtedly to the desperation of certain opposition figures to unsettle the nation and stop our march to recovery and prosperity.

Mr Fanwo stressed that the proponents were fanning the embers of war using protest as a smokescreen.

“It, therefore, behoves us as our responsible citizens to stop these unpatriotic elements bent on manipulating the residents to achieve their evil expectations.

“It is heartwarming that we have received reports that our citizens are ready to march in solidarity with Mr. President’s efforts at defending the economic interests of the poor.

“We are proud of the fact that the people of Kogi have refused to yield the state to the macabre dance of agents of destabilisation,” he said.

 (NAN)