Governor of Cross River State, Bassey Edet Otu, has advised Nigerians not to protest, stating that global recession, Palestine-Israel and Russia-Ukraine wars were responsible for hardship experienced in the country.
Governor Bassey Otu said the government has been putting measures in place to ensure the effects of hardship are ameliorated. He said while protest is constitutional right of citizens, dialogue and peace should be embraced by youths to avoid a repeat of Endsars experience.
In a statement on Tuesday, on his X handle, the Cross River State governor called for commitment and support of Nigerians to ensure the country comes out of the current hardship.
“Unfortunately, this administration came in when the recession was rising sporadically to its peak demanding very extreme measures to counter its fangs.
“As expected, the change of baton and massive expectations from the electorate raised the stakes even higher. Media induced anxiety spiked. Political intolerance escalated. Increase in Consumer price index became alarming and liquidity shortages appear to be the killer.
“As it were, we cannot pretend to be unaware of our perilous national trajectory flowing from the surging insurgency through the global recession that took its national toll before the COVID ravage and the Russian/ Ukraine, Israeli /Palestinian wars among others. The above upheavals sent inflation galloping around the world, Nigeria and our state inclusive,” Otu said.
He said his administration has put measures in place through social supports and interventions to serve as succor to Cross River State residents.
He assured that his administration would continue to ensure all palliatives meant for the citizens of his state are not held back or delayed.
“Fortunately, my leadership has risen to the challenge with expressed acts of responsibility, kindness and compassion with diverse comforting social supports and interventions, some of which have immediate succour while others promise medium and long-term results which require patience and understanding to tap into the harvests.
“I have also ensured a hitch-free, immediate and down-to-bottom distribution of the palliative items sent to our state. Under my watch, no package meant for Cross Riverians will be held back, delayed or denied.
“Our people must enjoy the gifts of life and have the true paradise experience without any let or hindrance,” he added.
The statement added, “Peaceful protests are constitutional channels of ventilating citizens’ right to expression. But historical hindsight is also instructive with the tell-tales of Endsars still dripping, shouldn’t we rather express the solemnity of patriotic goodwill in this ebbing moment of our history by lifting our feet from the mire of anger and despair and placing them on the solid rock of the reality of recovery driven by sacrifices on the altar of time.
“As accounted above, many nation-states have taken their own turns of drinking from the cup of economic calamities served by strong natural activations. If time and circumstances have rolled the cup into our territory, let us not bury our heads in the sand as the proverbial ostrich.
“Let us not break down the house of recovery that we are about to roof. Let us be gallant, heroic and steadfast to write our narrative of how we fell, refused to stay prostrate but rose up and dusted ourselves to march to success.
“Let us prove to the world that we love our fatherland by not sinking the boat of our existence but boldly resetting the sail and pushing to a destination of hope, brightness and happiness. In this, we live as Cross Riverians to honour the labour of heroes past and bequeath a bouquet of bounties to the generation next.”
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