By Efe Onodjae

The Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Lagos chapter, Comr. Alimi Idris, and the Board of Trustees Chairman, Ndi Eze Igbo in Diaspora Worldwide, Uche Dimgba, have stated that they will not partake in the August 1st protest.

Comrade Idris and Dimgba made this statement in Lagos during a town hall meeting organized by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Fayoade Adegoke, with the theme “Enhancing Community Engagement and Participation in Fostering Peace, Security, and Unity.”

According to Idris, Lagos State students cannot join a cause they don’t fully understand. He said, “We students of Lagos State already have internal battles we are facing, and I am here to state categorically that the 11 tertiary institutions in Lagos State will not join a protest; we don’t know the beginning and the ending.

“We don’t have time to join a protest when we are already dealing with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) strike. We don’t want anything else that will delay our academics, thereby having to graduate in seven years for a four-year course.

“Many presidents of various institutions in Lagos State have already started calling me, saying they are being contacted by unknown numbers about the protest. But I’m here to state that we are not joining the protest because we don’t know the organizers.”

Dimgba, on his part, stated that Igbos in Lagos will not partake, as protest is not part and parcel of the Igbo tribe. He said, “I am here in uniform with presidents of both Ladipo market, Alaba Amalgamated, and other Igbo elders to state that we and our children will not be protesting in any way. As a matter of fact, we are on the verge of not voting here in Lagos. And we have told our children that if they want to cast their vote, they should go to the village to vote and not Lagos.”

Meanwhile, the President General of Ladipo market, Mr. Africanus Ogudoro, also stated that Ladipo market will be fully open to operate by August 1st. Speaking at the town hall meeting, Ogudoro stated, “Ladipo market will be fully open to operate on August 1st because we are not aware of any protest. The same goes for Alaba Amalgamated. Markets will be fully open.”