Yoruba Group Backs Protest, Says Nigerians Must Rise Against Bad Governance

A Lagos based civil society group, the Yoruba Revolutionary Movement (YOREM) has thrown its weight behind plans by Nigerians to protest perceived bad governance in the country, saying those organising it possess legitimate constitutional right to do so.

These are the submission of the National Coordinator of the YOREM, Comrade Wale Balogun during a press conference organised in Lagos on Saturday, wherein he called security government and agents not to abridged the rights of Nigerians in any form during and after the protest.

“We welcome you all to the press conference called to disabuse the minds of the mischievous state sponsored propaganda that a certain section of the multi-ethnic nationality groups in Nigeria Wanted to undermine a so-called Yoruba Presidency and plunge the nation into chaos.

“This campaign of calumny is baseless. It is an attempt to sow the seed of discord, divide the ranks of would be protesters and demobilize gullible Yoruba from playing their historic role to rescue themselves and land from unprecedented hunger and hardship in Nigeria today,” Balogun said.

While accusing some civil society groups in South Western part of the country for compromise, Balogun urged his Yoruba kith and kin not to be hook wick by the propaganda, the group called on them to rise alongside other Nigerians who are also bearing the brunt of the current hardship to protest and advocate for good governance.

“The ruinous elite class is our collective enemy not the poor Ndigbo, Hausa, Tiv, Ibariba, Izon, Berom and others who are struggling to survive the avoidable hardship in the midst of plenty,” he said.

He called for caution on the part of the government and the various security agencies in dealing with the protest, saying, “Protesters from August 1st, 2024 are your children, they are your brothers, they are your sister, they are your relations, they are your family members and they are your friends. Do not kill them as games in support of insensitive and irresponsible rulers.”