Nigerian 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 nine 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 destabilize 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 frontline 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 destabilize 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 emphasized 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 analyze 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.
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