Emeka Agba Asks Nigerians to Shun Protest

With the August 1st Protest looming large over the nation, a philanthropist, Emeka Agba, has urged Nigerians to shun the protest , but rather engage the Federal Government through dialogue.

Speaking at a press conference to address national issues, the Founder, Chief Emeka Agba Foundation, Emeka Agba, said more Nigerians must become active in engaging the government through dialogue rather than protest.

According to him, “I would like to say that the protest should be jettisoned entirely, it should not take place. If that is what is needed to stop the protest, I am totally not in support of any protest. Not because I am not affected as a Nigerian by the way the government is functioning, or with the high cost of things in Nigeria. In fact, I am mostly affected because every now and then, I know the effort I’m putting in order to have electricity in the house and buy water for my children and all that. However, when you talk about protest with the present situation of Nigeria, it’s like somebody whose house is on fire, instead of using water to quench the flame, you went and got a gallon of gasoline and started pouring in there.

“The protest, if it takes place, will double the suffering of Nigerians and Nigerians should stop looking at countries like Kenya, because they think Kenya had a protest. I am a very good friend of people in Kenya, including their President and the opposition party, in fact the president of Kenya is our in-law, as we speak.

“So protests of any kind right now will really destroy things and make people suffer more, because at the end of the day, if the protests take place, it’s still you and I who will pay for what seems to have been lost, or what seems to have been damaged. Even if they borrowed money to fix those things, it is still taxpayers’ money that the government will still come back to fix it and It is still going to add to our suffering.

“So what I think we should do, alternative to the protest, you know, neutral people as we have remained, should no longer remain too neutral, rather the government should expect us to come over to them, to continue to compel or pressure them with the demands of the masses, in a more civilized and more decent manner. The moment we talk about protest, there are so many hoodlums, jobless people, hunger is worsening in the country. They will take the advantage to begin to destroy people’s property, and start looting people’s, we’ve seen it here in this country,

On the minimum wage, he noted that he hopes more States follow the two that are currently paying the N70,000.

“Well, minimum wage, my take on it is that if the other states can follow the two states that have accepted to pay. To me, even the 70,000 as a minimum wage, is a welcome development. It’s better than the previous amount, so, it’s a good step in the right direction, but let’s see how far this can go and I hope other states comply.”