The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has said that Nigeria is not the only country going through economic hardship.
The monarch stated this on Tuesday during an interview on Tuesday on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
He recognised Nigerians’ right to protest, however, insisted that it must be peaceful, warning that the government’s property should not be destroyed.
Naija News reports that cost of living has spiked in Nigeria after President Bola Tinubu ended the fuel subsidy and eased foreign exchange controls after coming to power in May last year.
Inflation hit record levels at 34.19 per cent in June, with food inflation more than 40.87 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The police, military and the Department of State Services (DSS) have warned against Kenya-styled protests.
Speaking on the planned protest, the monarch described the economic hardship being felt in the country as a global phenomenon and urged the citizenry to give President Bola Tinubu’s administration more time.
He said: “We traditional rulers never said people should not go to the streets to demonstrate, it is their right. Even our political leaders confirmed that they can do so. Myself, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III; and other traditional leaders across the country, met Mr President some days ago and we had a very good meeting
“The agitation is real. We know we have a lot of suffering in the country and it’s not only Nigeria. We have global inflation and it is everywhere, not only in Nigeria. If it were only in Nigeria, we would have been more worried, but what we traditional rulers are after is that our country should not be destroyed by us. It is a global phenomenon, we should be very sensitive about it, we should be very mindful of our country more than anything.
“We should focus on true patriotism and also we that are the owners of the country and all the people of Nigeria are also the problem. We are traditional rulers, we must ensure public assets are not destroyed and we must appeal so that they can give the current government a little bit of time to correct since it’s a global thing.”
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