By Henry Uche
The Supreme Head of the Cherubim & Seraphim (C&S) Unification Church of Nigeria, Prophet Solomon Adegboyega Alao, has called on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, address the nation and appeal to those planning to protest against his policies to shelve the action.
He also advised the President to caution the security agencies not to over react to the threats of the protesters and do all within his powers to prevent the protest through dialogue and thorough explanation of his policies to the people.
Prophet Alao, who is the Head of all C&S churches worldwide said while the security situation in the country was not conducive for such a mass action against Tinubu’s administration, he cautioned the government’s officials and security agencies to recognise the constitutional rights of the citizens to protest against harsh economic policies of the government.
In a statement, the church leader said: “President Tinubu is a father of the country. He should, as a matter of urgency, address the country and appeal for more time to implement his palliative programmes to cushion the effects of removal of petroleum subsidies.
The President must also admit that some of the palliatives sent to the people did not reach the poor and vulnerable Nigerians who need it most. He should institute probe on how states and agencies handled palliative money sent to them.
“Any mass protest against the government at this period is capable of reversing the gains of democracy since 1999.
President Tinubu should stop some of his party members from accusing the opposition of being brains behind the protest when some of them are moles and enemies within. This is not the time for the government and security agencies to be talking tough. In fact, it is the duty of the security agencies to protect the protesters and ensure peaceful protest does not turn violent.
“Besides, the issue of hunger must be thoroughly addressed. Insecurity has sent many farmers out of their farms. The government must also import farm implements to encourage modern farming that will attract youths to key into agric business instead of importing food.
He also called on the government to ensure transparency in the distribution of the students loan by “making public the names, telephone numbers and institutions of the beneficiaries for easy verification of all Nigerians.”
The clergy who described the current face-off between the NNPC and Dangote Refinery as an embarrassment to the country, urged President Tinubu who is also the Petroleum Minister to intervene and resolve the matter in favour of encouraging local production of refined oil and more investment in local refineries.
He said: “It is a shame that Nigeria as an oil producing country is still spending billions of dollars to import refined products. The NNPC should be more concerned with making the four refineries in the country work instead of trying to frustrate the only working local refinery in the country.