Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, said on Sunday that he and his colleagues are worried about the discontent, hunger, and anger in the country.
Fayemi, however, expressed the governors’ readiness to work with other stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the issues.
The governor spoke at a Special Thanksgiving Mass held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Ado Ekiti as part of activities to mark the second anniversary of his administration in office.
Also, the Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Reverend Felix Ajakaye called for a ceasefire on the part of the protesters to allow the federal government to take action on their demands.
Fayemi said, “There is a lot of anger in the land, there is a lot of hunger in the land, pent-up emotion. There is disillusion in the land. As a young man who spent much time in the barricades protesting bad governance, I can understand what is going on now.
“I and my colleagues are concerned and we are committed to reforms not just about SARS because we will be making a mistake that the general disaffection in the land is all about SARS,” he said.
We must end protest – Lawan, Gbajabiamila
Elsewhere in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday met behind closed- door with the leadership of the National Assembly at the Presidential Villa.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila represented the leadership of the National Assembly at the Presidential Villa, which was presided over by the president.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Senator Lawan said the meeting specifically deliberated on how best to address the ongoing #ENDSARS demonstrations being witnessed in some parts of the country.
“This is certainly a very trial moment and as a National Assembly, we believe that we have a very critical and crucial role to play in ensuring that the current situation of protest across the country is brought to an end.
“I want to thank Mr President for exhibiting very deep democratic credentials – the protests have gone on for over ten days, across many states of the country and I think the protesters have expressed their legitimate right, the government has listened.
“The essence of coming to meet Mr President is to review the situation and see the roles the two arms of government should play in ensuring that the five-point demands of the protesters are properly addressed.
“Where legislative intervention will be required, we are ready to move in and deal with such expeditiously, to ensure that we don’t waste any time so that we address the concerns of our youths.
“Where the executive role is expected we are sure that the executive will expedite action and we will be watching to ensure that such demands are properly met,’’ he said.
Also commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Gbajabiamila reiterated the readiness of the National Assembly to partner with other arms of the government particularly the executive, in meeting the genuine demands Nigerians.