Vice President Kashim Shettima has appealed to Nigerians to shun the planned nationwide protest scheduled to begin on August 1, 2024.

Shettima made the appeal at the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Dr Abubakar El-Kanemi, in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Saturday, July 27, 2024.

The Vice President served as the Special Guest of Honour at the wedding ceremony of four daughters of the Shehu of Borno.

Shettima, who gave out one of the Shehu’s daughters’ hand in marriage, said “it is time for unity and focused development” in the country.

He stated that protest has never been a solution for nations to solve their challenges, but rather an avenue for destruction of human lives and properties.

The Vice President said: “I want to use this opportunity to call on our people to eschew violence. There can never be development without peace; there can never be peace without development.

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“I wish to implore all our youths not to follow the part of anarchy, destruction.”

Shettima added that President Bola Tinubu feels the pulse of the nation and remains committed to making the nation’s challenges mostly inherited over the years a thing of the past.

He also implored Nigerians to keep faith with the federal government, saying: “In no distant time all of the administration’s efforts at emphatically repositioning the nation as one with the most powerful economy and social welfare for its citizens will become obvious”.

On the gradual return of peace in Borno State, Shettima said: “We have had enough challenges in Borno, in the sub-region, and the nation as a whole.

“This is a time for unity; this is a time for focused development. And for the people of Borno, I will ask them to rally round our governor who is working tirelessly to address our developmental deficits and also bring succour to the downtrodden.

“The only way we can show solidarity with the governor is for our people to shy away from dancing to the tune of the bandits and idiots.

“The idiots are fomenting mischief from the comfort of Australia, Finland, and the United States – all the so-called social media influencers.”

The Star