Borno citizens on Wednesday resolved that people of the state would not participate in the planned August 1, nationwide protest over hardship.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they made their position known during a stakeholders’ meeting held in Maiduguri.
They resolved that the state had suffered over a decade of insurgency and would not allow its people to be drawn into any protest.
Speaking at the meeting, Gov. Babagana Zulum said the state had gone through a lot to attain relative peace and should not allow anything that could be hijacked by enemies of the state to promote another round of violence in the state.
He noted that during the height of Boko Haram insurgency, over 200,000 persons were killed with the same number still unaccounted for, but nobody protested.
“We gradually overcome the challenges through the help of God Almighty as well as the Federal Government and the resilience of our people,” he said.
Zulum urged the people of Borno in particular and Nigeria in general to appreciate the measures being taken by the government like the removal of tariff and distribution of palliatives as part of many commitments in the pipeline to address the hardship.
He noted that the hardship was not peculiar to Nigeria, warning that taking rash actions like protest would not bring better results.
“Our youth as the backbone of the society need to be guided by their conscience through constructive engagement,” Zulum said.
In his contribution on behalf of traditional and religious leaders, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai-El-Kanemi, said: “Borno is now one of the peaceful states in Nigeria and should maintain that status.”
Garbai-El-Kanemi said traditional rulers would continue to mobilise their subjects towards lasting peace in Borno.
The Speaker of Borno House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdulkarim Lawan, who spoke on behalf of lawmakers in the State and the National Assembly, said lawmakers from the state were against any protest.
“To us in Borno, any protest now is a distraction from our rebuilding process.”
In his remarks on behalf of Christians, the Borno branch Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop John Bakeni, advocated for dialogue, pointing out that “what dialogue didn’t achieve, violence can’t achieve it.”
Bakeni, however, advised leaders to do everything possible to ensure justice in the course of leadership for the needed peace to regn in the society.
Contributing on behalf of the Military, the Theatre Commander, Operations Hadin Kai, Maj.-Gen. Waidi Shuiabu, recalled that many lives were lost to insurgency and appealed to all to work towards consolidating the relative peace in the region.
He said the military and other security agencies were committed to providing security for more people to engage in farming activities across the state.
Speaking on behalf of the Police and other paramilitary organisations, the Borno Commissioner of Police, Mr Yusuf Mohammed, said the police had identified about five groups sponsoring the protest nationwide.
He said the command in Borno had arrested one of the suspects deployed to Borno to mobilise protesters.
NAN reports representatives of other groups who spoke at the meeting and called for dialogue include; Borno Elders Forum, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Students’ Union, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
Others are; National Council of Women Society (NCWS), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Borno Chambers of Commerce.