The North East Leaders of Thought (NELT), has appealed to youths to shelve the planned nationwide protest and give the government a chance.

The chairman of NELT, retired  Maj.-Gen. IBM Haruna, made the appeal  at a news conference to mark his 84th birthday  on Thursday in Abuja.

According to Mr Haruna, a lot of sacrifices have been made for the nation to stand. 

“I grew up joining the military not for the fun of it, but with the determination to ensure that the unity and stability of the country remains indissoluble.

“When the civil war broke out, we all had no other options than to make all the sacrifices to keep Nigeria  one, a ‘task that must be done and by the grace of God this was done.

“We have remained together for the last 63 years as a nation.

“Let me use the occasion of the celebration of my birthday to appeal to our youths who are planning some protests around the country, to give the government a chance to settle down; to work,” he said.

According to Mr Haruna, the government has just spent one year in office; hopefully when it gets its acts together, it should be able to improve the living conditions of the people.

He said that  efforts have been made to send some palliatives to all the states of the federation.

The chairman said that there were many other measures which the government has mapped out to address the challenges confronting the nation.

“ It is my hope that those responsible for carrying out government tasks, will take their assignments with all the seriousness it deserves.

“Nevertheless, let me call on the government of the day to give a human face to all its programmes and activities that are being undertaken.

“The basis on which this government was voted into office in 2023 was for the renewed hope agenda of the President.

“By implication, it means Nigerians had lost hope and the administration promised to reset the hopeless situation with a renewed hope,’’he said

Mr Haruna said that things got worse with the immediate withdrawal of subsidy, hike in electricity tariff, currency devaluation, and expensive transportation system.

He added that the deepening economic crisis was getting out of hand and worse than the experience of the  COVID-19 period.

Haruna said that this is a clarion call for the government to be awake to its responsibility as guaranteed in Section 14(2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

“This section  declares that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” he said.

(NAN)