The African Public Relations Practitioners under the aegis of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) on Wednesday cautioned the Federal government to seek more of dialogue with the protesters rather than trying to muffle their voices, saying that democracy dies without guarantee of civil liberty.
The association also called on the protesters to listen to reasons once they have passed their message, because wanton destruction of hard earned infrastructure and other developmental facilities will impact the economy negatively and tell on everybody at the end of the day.
Although the association expresses unequivocal solidarity with the people of Nigeria as the protest embarked upon is in response to the rising costs of living, it however praised the federal government with the maturity it has handled the protest so far.
A statement from the association, signed by its President, Arik Karani reads, in part: “As the protest enters its second day, we call for sincere and continuous dialogue to ensure speedy resolutions of the issues that led to the protests.
“Protests and advocacies for improved social conditions are constitutive of civil liberties and central to democratic practice. Indeed, democracy dies without a guarantee of civil liberties. APRA, therefore, commends the Nigerian government for its expressed guarantee and non-aversion to the expression of the right to protests by citizens and the actions it has taken to prevent the escalation of the crisis.
“However, APRA noted with concerns the reported death of persons – including citizens and security forces, injuries to many persons, looting of business assets, theft of equipment and other resources in public utilities – including telecommunications infrastructure, food processing companies as well as instances of destruction and arson that have resulted from the first day of protests. APRA’s commitment to seeing Africa prosper requires that we condemn the unjustifiable death of citizens and security personnel as well as looting and vandalism of infrastructure emplaced to improve the quality of life of the people.
“Therefore, we call on all actors – state and non-state – to stop the hostilities and the outrage.
“In their stead, APRA advocates continuous dialogue and sincere conversations to ensure quick and concrete resolutions of the issues. We call on the government of Nigeria, including subnational entities, to work with all stakeholders to restore normalcy to the nation.
“APRA shares in the grief of families that have lost their members in the ongoing crisis and pray for the repose of the souls of the departed. We wish those recuperating from injuries a speedy and complete recovery and hope that institutions and persons that have lost properties will be supported to recover quickly and return to business to support government’s efforts to reflate the economy”
