The Minister of State for Environment, Ishaq Salako, on Saturday, assured Nigerians that the economy is on its way to full recovery following the radical economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu in the past year.
This came as the Special Adviser to the President on Tourism, Prince Ademola Adetokunbo begged Nigerians ‘not to allow anybody to lure you with N5,000 or N10,000 to go and protest.
Salako expressed the conviction at the inauguration of new National Working Committee members for the youth league of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja.
The minister’s reassurance was in response to calls for all APC youths to boycott the August 1 nationwide planned protest.
The demonstration, scheduled to run from August 1 to 15, has continued to generate tension and elicit mixed reactions from Nigerians
Several groups who indicated interest in championing the campaign said the call for protest was provoked by the soaring cost of living and economic hardship in the country.
But Salako disagreed, saying the anticipated demonstration is an attempt by some unscrupulous politicians to use the youthful population to destabilize governance in the country.
He said, “Do not allow yourself to be used by people who want to destabilise Nigeria. What the country is going through now is like a patient who has cancer. The cancer has been embedded in his body for so many years. All the past leaders lacked the courage to tackle the problem. Instead of addressing the problems, what did they do? They postponed the evil days.
“Mr President has tackled the cancer by doing a radical surgery. And when you conduct a radical surgery on anything, it takes time for it to heal. Aside from taking time to recover, a cancer that is so long will need to undergo chemotherapy. I believe we all know what it is. During such a process, you will notice that the person will lose weight, hair, and all kinds of things all in a bid to get well.
“So I want to crave your indulgence as your APC youths league president has directed that you should go to your various ward and local governments and let people know what! r President is doing. Before he assumed office, things were extremely bad. That was why I used the example of a cancer that is at a terminal stage. If Tinubu had not done what he did, Nigeria would have been on its way to the mortuary by now. But God forbid it.”
Special Adviser to the President on Tourism, Prince Ademola Adetokunbo, also shared his sentiment when he appealed to the young politicians to discourage their friends and neighbours from going to the protest.
Adetokunbo stated that despite the political shenanigans being deployed by the enemies of the country, Tinubu will complete eight years of his tenure.
“This protest is not for us. Don’t allow anybody to lure you with N5,000 or N10,000. We are pleading that this protest is not in the interest of Nigerians. Just recently, we now have the North West Development Commission along with others. This are avenue for we youths to benefit. Don’t let some people take us for granted. These people’s children are in the UK and the United States. They are not passing through all these things as you are. They will now come up with ways to separate you.
“It is only when they want to use us they will remember we have Nigerian youths. Has any of them called you to come and pick up certain jobs or appointments? But here is a President who has the youth in mind with all the lofty policies he has created. The student loan is there. So why can we give out total support to this present administration? We will use this four years and by the grace of God, we are going to eight years,” he stated.
Earlier in his address, the newly sworn-in President of the APC Youths, Olamide Lawal, called on members of the party at all levels to snub the proposed demonstration
“As progressive youths, Mr President needs our utmost support, not demonstration. He needs our empathy and not protest against the hike in food prices and cost of living. We must demonstrate virtuous ethos to make sure the Renewed Hope agenda is achieved. Let me emphatically call on my comrade youths in the country to stand by President Bola Tinubu so that he to focus on his progressive mission for this country.
“We all worked hard to get him into office last year. Let’s not allow some disgruntled elements who have their political agenda to truncate the present administration’s steady efforts to take Nigeria to greater heights. Let’s avoid being used for demonstrations or protests against this government. Remember that no pain, no gain. The painful moments we are presently passing through shall bring enormous gains to our generation and generations yet unborn,” he assured.
