Plateau State governor, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang has appealed to #EndBadGovernance protesters in the state to stay further protests and dialogue with their leaders towards engendering and planning for poverty alleviation for the people of the state.
The governor in an early morning statewide broadcast monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday, admitted that leaders do not possess monopoly of wisdom, saying as soon as the protests were over, he will meet with the leaders of the youth groups across the state for further dialogue.
The Governor said that since the commencement of the constitutionally guaranteed protest, protesters had demonstrated, to the admiration of other Nigerians and even the international community, that the glorious days of the beautiful and peaceful Plateau were back.
However, justifying the need to call off the strike, Governor Muftwang appealed to the youths to consider the hoodlums that have infiltrated their ranks to perpetrate evil deeds.
"My dear brothers and sisters, the more we continue with the protests, the more the likelihood of being hijacked by sponsored criminals and hoodlums like we began to notice from Sunday evening.
"Based on the intelligence at our disposal, we know the lawful protests have been infiltrated by criminals who were waiting for an opportunity to loot shops, attack and rob innocent citizens of their hard-earned belongings," Mutfwang said.
He drew attention to the display of foreign flags by some criminally minded intruders, noting that as a responsible government, proactive steps were being taken to prevent further acts of criminality, thus, the imposition of the 24-hour curfew on Jos-Bukuru metropolis starting from Sunday midnight.
Mutfwang further said the resistance by hoodlums in some parts of the Jos North area from Monday morning till late afternoon proved "that our action of imposing the curfew is justified," saying credible sources earlier revealed that merchants of violence invited hoodlums from neighbouring states to disrupt the peace in Jos because of the peace being enjoyed in Plateau State.
He added that curfew will be reviewed as soon as the security situation permits while pledging that his administration will not tolerate actions that will further disrupt the peace and security in the state.
He warned individuals and groups planning to cause unrest in the state to reconsider their actions as security agencies were on high alert to address such threats decisively.
The Plateau State governor explained that the efforts of his administration in public transportation, investments in agriculture - including training 20 youths per local government in modern agribusiness - improvements in the health and education sectors were geared towards laying the foundation for poverty alleviation.
He also recalled that his administration gave out over 200 trucks of fertiliser and other palliatives in conjunction with the federal government, stressing that government was very hopeful to reap a bumper harvest this season, which he noted will go a long way in providing food security.
"Furthermore, we have started the empowerment of several Plateau State citizens with a token of N50,000 through the Plateau State Microfinance Development Agency (PLASMIDA), which is aimed at supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
"The gesture was to ensure measurable improvement to the quality of life of MSMEs in the State by providing business development support to indigent persons," he said.
The Governor further stressed that as the government continued its onslaught against poverty and its attendant consequences, it cannot also feign ignorance that they were not quick fixes to the challenges being faced by the people.
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"We cannot deny that the period between 2015 to 2023 was the season of the locusts. Years in which we were stripped of our dignity as a nation, going from the biggest economy in Africa to becoming the poverty capital of the world," he said.
He further disclosed that, "Even at the state level, we inherited a distressing state of affairs, about N400 billion in debt without tangible evidence of progress in any sector."
The governor added that while focusing on the intermediate and long-term strategies, he was aware that families were going through difficult times.
He stressed that these informed the collaboration between states and the federal as well as local governments towards making efforts to reduce the suffering by administering some palliatives.
