Following the recent nationwide unrest which originated from the #EndSARS protests, an alliance of Women Civil Rights Group, Women Intervention Group (WIG), has called on the Presidency to urgently respond to the demand of the youths.
WIG, which is an initiative of the Mary-Elika foundation, added that the provision of basic structures and amenities and transparency in governance will go a long way in fostering development and dousing agitations.
Speaking at a conference in Abuja on Wednesday, WIG’s Chairperson, Hon. Mary Manzo, called on the leaders to urgently expand resources in building a structure that would create an enabling environment for employment and to harness their potential for nation’s growth.
She stated “As mothers of the nation we pray that our leaders and children who are in in various leadership positions within our Country will lend us positive ears of reasoning as we jointly air our views and proffer solutions to the present day predicament we have found our nation in.”
She further went ahead to say the Country already has an abundance of human and natural resources and all it needs is to be harnessed to make Nigeria an industrial hub for many nations.
Also present at the event, WIG’s Southern coordinator, Sarah Obafemi said it was unfortunate that some political appointees and elected persons did not express quality leadership that could have cushioned the threat to our national unity.
On her part, Hajia Umma Getso, WIG’s Northern coordinator addressed the issue of insurgency, bandits, herders whose actions have crippled the the economic activities of the region.
“The Nigerian youths over the years have not been given adequate opportunity as well as enabling environment to express their talents to the fullest.
According to her, “The level of unemployment has skyrocketed, living millions of them without jobs.
“The outcry for restructuring and good governance has been the centre of this agitation as many prominent Nigerians continue to pour in their displeasure with the abuse of Federal character rules by Government,” she said.
In her address, the Chairperson, Hope Ambassadors, Mandy Olowu said When voices and agitations of the youths over the years are constantly suppressed, the power that be refused to listen and their yearnings go without being heard, they will eventually burst forth.
When people are not allowed to speak their minds and air their own views, they are daily abused, deprived, dehumanized and pushed to the wall, it will certainly get to a point where it becomes too much!That is what is happening now. The frustrating feeling of not being heard becomes exhausting and infuriating.
This government, and others before it, have no inclination to listen to people; they talk, make policies that favour themselves and their cohorts and expect every other person to listen and obey. Imagine the pain of not being heard, the humiliation of being put down, the agony of being ignored for so long, the pain of being cajoled into believing that ‘e go better one day’. Then that ‘one day’ erupts into a volcano which engulfs everything in its path.
First and foremost, government must:
– LISTEN
– THERE MUST BE CONSEQUENCES FOR BAD BEHAVIOR (all those found culpable must be prosecuted)
– THE YOUTHS MUST BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO AIR THEIR VIEWS
– THE YOUTHS MUST BE INCLUDED IN ON-GOING DISCOURSE
– THEY MUST NOT BE EXCLUDED FROM GOVERNANCE.