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Govs Otti, Soludo, Diri Urge Youths To Heed Tinubu’s Call For Dialogue

Published

5 months ago

Aug 5, 2024.

Abia, Anambra and Bayelsa states governors asked protesting youths to adhere to President Bola Tinubu’s call for dialogue

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Abia State Governor, Alex Otti and his counterparts in Anambra and Bayelsa states, Charles Soludo and Duoye Diri respectively, have taken the same path with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by calling on youths to dialogue with the government over their demands

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The governors, who spoke at different events in their state capitals, said talks between the governments were better tools for ending disagreements instead of taking recourse to protests.

In Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, Otti told participants of the Aba South Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, that he was grateful to youths heeding his appeal to them not to participate in the protest.

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti

He said, “I want to use this opportunity to thank you and Abia people who listened to my plea not to come out, pour onto the roads and disrupt services and activities, and probably visit mayhem on the people.

“The reason is not because things are not difficult, far from it. I recognise how difficult things are today, but at the same time, there is a saying that two wrongs cannot make a right.

“I also do know that a lot of our people live by the day, some are traders, some are Keke riders, some are barbers, and some are taxi drivers. These people put food on the table on the basis of what they earn that particular day.

“My plea was that we can always sit down to discuss. And, I want to thank Abia people for heeding that call. It does not mean that we don’t have right to protest but there are different ways of protesting.

“I think that the authorities had even listened to you and heard what you did not say.’’

Otti’s counterpart in Bayelsa State, Diri applauded residents of the state for maintaining the peace.

“The protest in Bayelsa is dead,’’ he told reporters in Yenagoa. He explained that the state remained largely peaceful because of the resolve of Bayelsans, particularly the youth, to key into the peaceful disposition of his administration.

The governor said: “Before August 1, l engaged with the youth, religious bodies, and other stakeholders and maintained that dialogue was the best approach because we envisaged that the protest could be hijacked by persons that do not mean well for our state.

Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri

From day one of the #EndBadGovernance protest till today, there has been no real protest in the state.

“I thank our elders, parents, religious leaders and our productive youths of Bayelsa for listening to the voice of reason and for sustaining the peace that we all are enjoying. Today, l am happy to announce that Bayelsans are united more than ever before.”