Federal Government has been advised not to see military option as a solution to recent protests across the country as being advocated by some people
Coordinator, International Media Watch Group for Peace and Strategic Initiative, Dr. Alameen Abdulkodir stated this at a webinar conference, titled ” A face lift for peaceful engagement: Averting ethno-religious conflict in Northern Nigeria” organized by Inside Arewa News Paper
Dr Abdulkodir who noted that government has started well with some of the steps taken so far to respond to yearnings of the protesters, called for continuous persuasion and dialogue to resolve the problem.
He reminded government to learn from countries where military force was used to disengage protesters, noting that it never ended well with either parties.
While identifying social negligence as the root cause of the protest, Dr. Abdulkodir charged President Muhammadu Buhari on adoption of executive order to urgently establish a special court that will address prospective cases of abuse of citizens in the hands of Police and other security formations.
He explained that this is the time for National Orientation Agency to be more proactive ever than before in persuading the protesters and let them know why it is important to go to the dialogue table with their demands.
He also called on the protesters to learn from South Korea, Singapore, Greece, Spain and recently Belarus, despite months of protest, it later ended on the negotiation table.
Dr. Abdulkodir charged the protesters to quickly embrace the option of negotiations before thugs hijack the process as it was witnessed in some states lately, adding that it is better to leave the stage when the ovation is loudest.