Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has revealed that some “evil political forces” made efforts to hijack the ongoing nationwide protest against hunger and bad governance, but protesters in the state shunned them.
For this, the governor expressed happiness and commended the protesters for not allowing themselves to be used to create unrest in the state.
Conveying his gratitude and solidarity over the peaceful nature of the current protests in the state in a statement issued on Monday by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke assured the protesting groups of his commitment to continuous delivery of good governance.
The statement revealed that the governor made this known in a meeting with his team on Sunday.
He said he was elated at the rejection of efforts by dark forces to hijack the protest for their selfish goals, saying the protest organizers have exhibited an incredible level of patriotism.
“We heard of consistent upholding of peaceful demonstrations by the organizers even in the face of pressure from various quarters. I was briefed on the refusal of organizers to succumb to evil political forces hell-bent on destroying the peace of the state. I commend them for maintaining peace and peacefully airing their views on the state of the nation,” Adeleke was quoted.
He promised to address some of the grievances of the protesters, who continued the protest at the popular Olaiya area on Monday that affected the state government, adding that he would channel other areas of concern to President Bola Tinubu.
He added, “I charge them to sustain their upholding of peace. All their submissions will be duly received. We will attend to areas that affect us as a state government, and we will take the rest to Mr. President in Abuja. As Mr. President is working hard at the national level, we are complementing him as the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
“We are redoubling our efforts to address the yearning and aspirations of our people. Within the government, we feel the pain being experienced by our people, and we are working tirelessly to bring succor and good living.
“I again had a meeting with my team handling the food security implementation committee. We are working hard to expand food supply, enhance farmers’ support, moderate food prices, boost food access, and introduce tractorization.
“I commend security agencies and all stakeholders for working hard to achieve sustained peace in Osun. I thank commanders across the security services for burning the candlelight so that Osun can remain ever peaceful and prosperous.”