Ahead of the planned nationwide protests, Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, will on Monday meet with organisers and stakeholders from the security and civil societies.
Disclosing this in a statement on Sunday, the governor’s spokesman, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, said his principal has instructed his team members to reach out to representatives of various civil society groups and student bodies for a dialogue session on the state of the economy.
Adeleke also asked key commanders of police and other security services to attend the session where stakeholders will be free to make recommendations on grievances and expected responses from the government at all levels.
“I have instructed my team to organise a dialogue session on Monday where stakeholders can meet as part of peacemaking in the exercise of constitutional rights. The session will allow parties to list grievances and what they expect the government at all levels to do.
“We will convey outcomes of the session to government leaders from myself to Mr President in Abuja. It will also be an opportunity to tell stakeholders what we are doing as a government to resolve the economic hardship facing our people,” Adeleke was quoted as saying.
The governor reaffirmed his firm belief in the national constitution and the rights and liberties enshrined in it, stressing the need for peace and non-violent actions among which are dialogue sessions slated for Monday.
He said, “Osun is a peaceful state where proactive steps are ongoing on food security, economic revival and state building to deliver good governance and dividends of democracy.
“We have to sustain the peace even as we make our feelings about the state of the nation known to the leadership. We will listen and we will act in the best interest of the citizenry.
“In the midst of positive transformation ongoing in our dear state, we cannot afford any criminal hijacking of liberty processions. That is why the Monday dialogue promises to achieve a lot.”