President’s Broadcast: Bauchi residents urge protesters to retreat

Some residents of Bauchi State, reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday broadcast, called for the suspension of the protest.

Speaking with the newsmen in separate interviews in Bauchi, the residents also offered dialogue as a means of solving issues.

They said it was time for the protesters to retreat from the protest and go for dialogue, as proposed by the president.

One of the residents, Mr. Olubunmi Adegboye, who said that the president had spoken well, added that every protest or even dispute ends on the roundtable for probable solutions.

“If people are angry, yes, they have the right to be angry and protest.

“It is true that everything is costly, but now that the government has listened to their complaints, I think they should allow dialogue to take place.

“I believe that the real people who are protesting against hunger now will go for dialogue with the president.

“Anybody that is still protesting after this move by the president will be seen as having a different motive, and then we will know that they are just hiding under hunger protests.

“And whatever they see as repercussions, they will have to face it.

“What the president has done this morning shows that he is really working and that he is trying to solve all the issues on the ground. Let’s give him time.

“Even the protest organisers’ contributions at the roundtable may also help the government in solving issues,” he said.

According to Adeboye, there are some people with sinister motives beyond ordinary hunger protests who only want to use the protest as an avenue to loot other people’s properties.

Mr. Abubakar Idris, a trader who said messages have been passed to the presidency in the past three days, advised protesters to retreat, “go home, and let the organisers strategise to protect innocent lives.”.

“Let the organisers think of another thing to do, especially if Mr. President will open his door as he has called for dialogue.

“Let them go to him, dialogue together, and find solutions to the problems", he said.

Mr Suleiman Adamu, member of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), lauded the president for calling for dialogue so that their divergent voices could be useful for the nation

Similarly, Ismail Raji, another resident, said the fact that the president called for dialogue in order to look for ways to solve the problems showed he is a Democrat and a listening leader.

“I think one of the things the protesters needed was to get the attention of the government, and now that they have it, let them go for dialogue and discuss with the government,” he said.