BEYOND SUBSIDY

I have strong reasons to react to the current occupation of Lagos especially by soldiers, a non democratic act that is running into the fourth day as I write this article.

It doesn’t make any literary sense to still dance around the subsidy issue as so many people have done justice to it. Even the offenders and executors of this IMF sponsored package have tried hard to beautify its outcomes as if we don’t feel it.

What has refused to stop drawing me to tears is the continued display of confusion and outright hatred for the rule of law as being displayed by President GEJ.

I tried as much as possible not to join the president bashing style that seems to be prevalent amongst Nigerian protesters especially the IT savvy. However, you have to begin to ask yourself if these bashings are wrong. Mr. President has by all standards shown to us he is about almost everything he has been called by concerned and angry Nigerians.

I owe it a duty to salute all Nigerians who gathered at Ojota, Lagos State, to protest the subsidy removal by the government. This gathering represents the most populous and heterogeneous gathering ever recorded in the post June 12, 1993 era. It takes a lot to have such a gathering noting strongly that the only casualties are bottles of beer, sachets of pure water and cigarette.

The clandestine connivance of the NLC and TUC in truncating our very peaceful protest is enough to spark some serious crises but we exercised self restrain and eschewed every possible acts of violence because we understand our demands just as we understand the undying intents of the Federal government to brand our protests as violent and unleash terror.

Now that we have returned to work and the President also had to make another blind u-turn to N97; a decision that further confirms the fact that most of the current policies are designed around guess-work and fictitious figures; we still have to contend with the militarization of our streets.

This same President and his band of over-zealous cabinet members all came to Lagos to sing and dance in securing our votes. Whether the votes actually got them in or rigged in is yet another seminar discourse; what is of immediate concern is that we have adopted the same dance and sing approach to call Mr. President to order and what we get is this military invasion. Of a truth, many people, including governors, have called for the immediate demilitarization of our states and one wonders why the President has remained adamant in withdrawing the troops.

I would have expected the Federal government to busy itself apologizing to Nigerians for the huge fraud unearthed by the Ad hoc committee investigating the rot within the NNPC and oil sector as a whole and not terrorizing us to this extent.

I don’t intend to sound pessimistic but I dare to say that the President by himself has invited the military to help him manage his affairs and as such has opened himself to possible overthrow by the military. While this might sound extremely doubtful, I don’t have to remind you we are in a country where anything can happen.

In conclusion, I would like to also lend my voice in calling for the removal of soldiers from our streets. None of our conducts as it were warrants regular policeman shooting tear gas and live ammunition at us not to talk of soldiers.

Mr. President, kindly do what is right; that is the least we can ask for and also the least you should do for us.

God bless Nigeria.