Economic hardship: Gov Buni warns Yobe youths against taking part in protest


Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has charged Nigerian youths in the North East region to shelve any plan of embarking on another round of protests, saying such a move would be dangerous and counterproductive.

The governor, through his Senior Special Assistant, Digital and Strategic Communications, Yusuf Ali, also charged the youths with the responsible use of social media in shaping positive narratives about the state and the country.

Buni gave the charge during the launch of the Ethical and Re-Orientation Campaign (Operation Gyaran Hali), organised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ethical Re-Orientation in Damaturu.

He said no Nigerian youth, especially from the North East part of the country, in his right senses will stage a protest that will disturb the hard-earned peace that people are enjoying in the North East after years of Boko Haram insurgency.

He added that the North East part of the country was yet to recover from the impact of the deadly Boko Haram insurgency, which has left the region in ruins with millions of people’s lives and property worth billions destroyed.

“We all have not forgotten what we have gone through during the dark days of the insurgency. Only those who have no senses will pray to go back to those years when people were running for their dear lives not to talk of what to eat,” Buni said.

According to him, another round of protests will worsen the already precarious security situation and economic hardship currently bedevilling the North East region and country.

The governor said his administration has taken bold steps in training youths on the responsible use of social media and providing tools for them to key into the digital economy.

He noted that the Yobe State Information Technology Development Agency, YITDA, is also working to engage more youths in its drive to provide digital skills to the people.

The governor called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, and parents to rise to the responsibility, of rebuilding the eroding culture of discipline, decency, and righteousness in the youth for a better future.