Katsina State Acting Governor, Mallam Jobe, Sues for Peace In Ongoing Protests As Coalition Of Civil Society Organizations Dissociate from Nationwide Protests

<h4>Katsina State Acting Governor<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the Acting Governor of Katsina State&comma; His Excellency&comma; Mallam Faruq Lawal Jobe&comma; sues for peaceful dialogue and constitutional means of addressing grievances during his address at the annual &&num;8220&semi;Yaumush Shukr&&num;8221&semi; &lpar;Day of Thanksgiving&rpar; held at the People&&num;8217&semi;s Square&comma; Katsina&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is contained in a statement from the Media Directorate of Katsina Government House&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the statement&comma; Acting Governor Jobe&comma; in his address&comma; stated&comma; <em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;I urge our esteemed traditional and religious leaders&comma; civil society organizations&comma; and all citizens to discourage the use of protests as a means of expressing grievances&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Instead&comma; let us utilize the constitutional channels available for government consideration&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;Parents must remain vigilant and protect their children from being manipulated into causing disunity under the guise of protests&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Acknowledging the current economic challenges&comma; Jobe added&comma;<em><strong> &&num;8220&semi;We are acutely aware of the hardships facing not only Katsina but the entire country&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;Our government has taken various measures to alleviate citizens&&num;8217&semi; suffering&comma; including the provision of palliatives and subsidized grains and fertilizers&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking on the significance of Yaumush Shukr&comma; the Acting Governor explained&comma;<em><strong> &&num;8220&semi;This annual event allows us to express our gratitude for Allah&&num;8217&semi;s blessings and renew our prayers for peaceful coexistence in our great state&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;Katsina has a proud legacy of producing eminent personalities who have contributed significantly to our nation&&num;8217&semi;s growth and development&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;It is for this reason that we conduct special prayer sessions in the state capital and all 34 local government areas every August 1st&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The event featured prayers led by prominent religious leaders&comma; including the Chief Imam of Katsina Central Mosque&comma; Imam Gambo Mustapha&semi; the Chairman of the State Council of Ulamas&comma; Sheikh Nazir Kofar Baru&semi; representative of Munazzama&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;realnewsmagazine&period;net&sol;">Sheikh Hadi Balarabe&semi; Representative of Izala&comma;<&sol;a> Sheikh Muhammad Aliyu Baba&semi; representative of Qadriyya Sect&comma; Mohammed Rufa&&num;8217&semi;i&semi; representative of Fityanul Islam&comma; Mallam Buhari Lawal&semi; Sheikh Ahmed Muhammed Sukairaj and Dr&period; Ismael Zakariyya Al-Kashnawi among others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; in a significant move underscoring civic engagement and peaceful dialogue&comma; the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Katsina State has formally dissociated itself from the ongoing nationwide protests&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Instead&comma; the group has chosen to present a comprehensive position paper to the Acting Governor&comma; Malam Faruq Jobe&comma; outlining key areas requiring government attention to alleviate current economic hardships&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>During a press briefing following the presentation&comma; Acting Governor Jobe commended the coalition&&num;8217&semi;s approach&comma; stating&comma; <em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;Presenting this position paper is the most civilized way to voice concerns rather than taking to the streets&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;We are pleased to see our civil society organizations leading by example&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Acting Governor emphasized the importance of written complaints as the most effective channel for communicating grievances to the government&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He noted that while Thursday&&num;8217&semi;s protests were relatively peaceful in Katsina compared to some other states&comma; he urged parents to discourage their children from being manipulated by groups seeking to create unrest&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reaffirming the state administration&&num;8217&semi;s commitment to addressing security challenges and economic hardships&comma; Malam Jobe expressed appreciation for the role played by traditional and religious leaders&comma; as well as civil society organizations&comma; in discouraging protests&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Abdulrahman Abdullahi Dutsinma&comma; Chairman of the Coalition&comma; presented the position paper&comma; suggesting a return to fuel subsidies as the best option to address inflation and economic hardship&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;Provision of any form of palliative would not effectively address or reduce the high cost of commodities&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong> <&sol;em>Dutsinma stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Also speaking&comma; Shehu Kofar Soro advocated for an upward review of scholarship allowances to help students with transportation costs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In furtherance to this&comma; Fatima Sanda who&&num;8217&semi;s also a member of the coalition of civil society organization called for measures to combat the vandalization of public facilities&comma; particularly the theft of metal objects and copper wires from electrical infrastructure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Acting Governor assured the coalition that their recommendations would be given due consideration as the government works towards sustainable solutions to the current challenges facing the state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;