Ahead of the proposed nationwide protests on August 1, a financial management expert and lecturer of Banking and Finance at the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), Dr Adelodun Sadraq , has warned against the implications of the protests on Nigeria’s fragile economy, saying that the protests will have negative effects on the country’s economic growth.
According to the financial expert, no strike in Nigeria’s history has ever conferred any financial benefit on the country’s economic development.
Dr Sadraq stated this in Abuja on Wednesday during an interview with journalists while reacting to the proposed protests over hardship in the country.
He said, “ It’s true average Nigerians are surviving on low income and daily earnings. The likes of transport workers, artisans, okada / tricycle riders, food vendors, hawkers , shops owners, petty traders and many others.
“The inability of any of the business class to operate or function in a day is going to hamper the survival of their various families members and the multiplying effects on the health or wellness of their various families members.”
The financial expert further said, “With the benefit of hindsight, the planned protests for 10 days will be counter productive. It will deal a devastating blow on Nigeria’s fragile economy that the present administration is trying to rebuild.
“ Stakeholders should know that public protest in all the 36 states of the federation and in public highways, as well as other areas of public access for 10 days is a deliberate plan to shut down the country and if this is allowed, it will amount to economic sabotage and spell disaster for the country
“I will like to encourage the protesters to table their requests or suggest possible solutions to the current hardship in the country. It’s obvious the economic hardship is global . Let me also state that it is the legitimate right of citizens to embark on peaceful protest . The question is ; Can the handlers or arrowheads guarantee a peaceful protest?
“This planned protest will inflict more hardship and pain on the populace and set the country backward in terms of billions of naira loss daily that is in evitable by Government and individual whose means of livelihood depends solely on daily transactions.
According to Sadraq, Nigerians have the rights to express their displeasure against perceived suffering resulting from years of misrule. He however urged Nigerians to suspend the planned August 1st protests to give the new administration time to execute its agenda.
On the need for stakeholders to exercise restraint on the planned protests, Sadraq said “Our nation has faced numerous challenges, including the scourge of war, bad governance, insurrections, banditry, kidnappings, insurgency, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We must acknowledge that, except for Providence, we are doomed. As we recover from one woe, another surfaces. Can we say with conviction that Nigeria’s struggles are a test from the Forces of Light from the Realm of the Higher Laws to acquire unique virtues, such as resilience, to direct the human race?
“After all, the Holy books say; Tribulation Worketh Patience and Patience, Experience
and Experience , Hope. And since Hope is said to be a cover for shame, Nigerians should expect a wonderful end Insha Allah in Yehoshua’s Most Glorious Name, Amen.
“We have not fully recovered from past devastations, including the EndSARS protests and the artificial local currency crisis that led to scarcity. Allowing lawlessness or anarchy to reign under a constituted government is incongruous with democracy’s tenets.
“Given our experiences with protests transmuting into riots and degenerating into intractable violence or to use the right words, turning most chaotic, I counsel that the planned protests be shelved. However, If the proponents insist, they should be managed as their intransigence stops them from reasoning.
“We are all into this difficult times, but a nationwide protests will compound issues and set us back many years when we are already on the pathway to recovery from issues bedeviling the nation as being witnessed by policies and concrete steps being undertaking by the current administration
“Many are not in tune with realities of governance and therefore cannot not draw a line between solving dire economic crisis and driving development at the same time. There is the need for us to desist from being naive.
