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The African Public Relations Association (APRA) has expressed unequivocal solidarity with the government and the people of Nigeria as the protest embarked upon in response to the rising costs of living entered its second day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call for sincere and continuous dialogue to ensure speedy resolutions of the issues that led to the protests,\u201d a statement signed by Arik Karani, President, APRA, said.<\/p>\n

It noted that protests and advocacies for improved social conditions were central to democratic practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, democracy dies without a guarantee of civil liberties,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

APRA commended the Nigerian government for its expressed guarantee and non-aversion to the expression of the right to protests by citizens and the actions it has taken to prevent the escalation of the crisis.<\/p>\n

It however, noted with \u201cconcerns the reported death of persons \u2013 including citizens and security forces, injuries to many persons, looting of business assets, theft of equipment and other resources in public utilities \u2013 including telecommunication infrastructure, food processing companies as well as instances of destruction and arson that have resulted from the first day of protests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAPRA\u2019s commitment to seeing Africa prosper requires that we condemn the unjustifiable death of citizens and security personnel as well as looting and vandalism of infrastructure emplaced to improve the quality of life of the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, we call on all actors \u2013 state and non-state \u2013 to stop the hostilities and the outrage. In their stead, APRA advocates continuous dialogue and sincere conversations to ensure quick and concrete resolutions of the issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on the government of Nigeria, including subnational entities, to work with all stakeholders and restore normalcy to the nation. Nigeria is central to Africa\u2019s vision for the progress and development of the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAPRA shares in the grief of families that have lost their members in the ongoing crisis and pray for the repose of the souls of the departed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish those recuperating from injuries a speedy and complete recovery and hope that institutions and persons that have lost properties will be supported to recover quickly and return to business to support the government\u2019s effort to reflate the Nigerian economy,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Nationwide protests: APRA stands with Nigeria, urges continuous dialogue<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The African Public Relations Association (APRA) has expressed unequivocal solidarity with the government and the people of Nigeria as the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19345,22850,15],"tags":[19348,22851,19761,2170,180,18,10386,17355,448,364],"class_list":["post-45166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apra","category-nationwide-protests","category-news","tag-apra","tag-continuous","tag-dialogue","tag-nationwide","tag-news","tag-nigeria","tag-protests","tag-stands","tag-urges","tag-with"],"yoast_head":"\n