Economic Hardships: Traders Union Directs Members To Shun Protests

By Abdullahi Yusuf

The National Harmonized Traders Union has directed its members not to participate in the planned nationwide protests against the prevailing economic hardships in the country.

Some faceless groups have issued a notice to Nigerians urging them to prepare for a nationwide mass action to protest against the Government’s alleged insensitivity to the plight of the people in its handling of the prevailing insecurity, poverty and hunger, among other problems bedeviling the nation.

“We have directed traders nationwide not to participate in the planned protests against the Government, organized by some faceless groups,”the President of the union,Dr Bature AbdulAziz, said in a statement issued to newsmen in Kano on Tuesday.

Dr AbdulAziz said members of the union had also been told to prevent their children and relatives from joining the protests, which he said might lead to chaos in the country.

“Protests or mass actions in this country usually bring sufferings to the people, including our members,because they result in killings and looting of properties.The #EndSars protests are still fresh in our minds,” he said.

He explained said many members of the union were killed, their goods looted and their stores burnt to ashes during the #EnSars protests.

“We are not against peaceful protests, but in Nigeria we don’t see any peaceful protests.Anytime people who are mostly youths and in most cases jobless, take to the streets,the outcome is always devastating,”he said.

The President gave example of Yugoslavia which he said witnessed protests for a long time but ended up balkanized.

“We share the pains and agony of Nigerians in the present economically devastating conditions they find themselves or we find ourselves, but allowing Government to gradually fix the situation is better than creating yet another problem that will drag the country 100 years backwards.

“Government should come up with assured means of salvaging the situation so that Nigerians will see clearly that there are efforts to address the situation,this will pacify them to shelve their planned mass protests,” he said.