The wrath of a people over their president’s action

Jimohib writes that the
anti-fuel subsidy removal protests
in the country have pitted President
Goodluck Jonathan against the
electorate
.
Nigerian artistes were among the
group of professionals that trooped to the Eagle Square in Abuja
when President Goodluck Jonathan was desperately looking for
the endorsement of his fellow Nigerians to lead them in March
2011.
With songs and choreographic displays, the artistes mesmerised
the audience with their acts. The audience, among whom were
students, labour leaders and their followers, market women and
men, joined in singing the praises of the son of a local fisherman
from the remote village of Otuoke, Bayelsa State. Dressed in his
traditional bowler hat and beaming with smile, Jonathan raised
his fist to salute the crowd. He was in high spirit. His wife,
Patience, was visibly happier. For them, the presidential election
was a foregone conclusion. They were right. Because, with a wide
margin, Jonathan, who was the candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, routed his main challenger for the office, Maj-
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
But eight months after he was elected by the people, the music
on the lips of the artistes has changed. The members of the
chorus, who were then the electorate, agreed with them. The
beat vibrating from the speakers has become distorted. Ironically,
it was the same artistes that led the chorus for the election of
Jonathan that are now leading the campaign against him. Sure, it
is a beat that the President and his men never envisaged. The
situation is even more compounded as many Nigerians, who
then named their children after Jonathan, are fast changing the
name. His name, which was hitherto associated with luck, is
being stretched to mean other negative things now.
For Nigerians, the past few days have been chaotic. Since the
Federal Government, through the Petroleum Products Pricing and
Regulatory Agency, announced the removal of subsidy from
petrol on January 1, the situation in the country has become like
that of the proverbial chicken that perches on the rope. Both of
them are not at peace.
Signs of what to come started in the early hours of January 2,
when anti-subsidy removal protesters marched to the Eagle
Square. Led by a former member of the House of Representatives,
Mr. Dino Melaye, the protesters were there to collect the
signatures of those opposed to the subsidy removal policy.
However, the Commander of the Brigade of Guards, Brig.-Gen.
Emmanuel Atewe, led officers and soldiers from the Presidential
Villa to disperse them. Before the event, soldiers and men of the
State Security Service had sealed off the Square. But unknown to
them, Melaye and some journalists had already entered the car
park to the astonishment of the security men. As soon as those
who were to sign the register started trouping to the car park,
Atewe, who came in a Hilux van with registration number BG 247
BWR, made some calls to some unknown persons. Soon, several
soldiers came in a green vehicle with the inscription ‘Brigade of
Guards.’
While addressing the protesters, Melaye described President
Jonathan’s determination to remove subsidy on fuel as wicked.
He said, “We open a register to protest the removal of oil subsidy,
we believe it is wicked, it is satanic, it is nefarious, barbaric and
no amount of intimidation or blackmail will stop us from
entering. You can see that the Eagle Square is being barricaded
with soldiers, police, SSS as if there is a war. I am sure they have
information that I am opening a register to lead the protest and
this registration is just for Nigerians to come and register their
anger in protest of the removal of subsidy. It won’t stop the
mobilisation of people to protest and we are going to protest
within the ambit of the law. No amount of intimidation will stop
us from fighting this cause. The battle to salvage Nigeria and fight
for this removal is a battle of ‘no retreat, no surrender.’ We are
ready to sacrifice our lives, we are ready to do anything to make
sure that by the special grace of God, Nigerians are defended.
When the President promised fresh air, we did not know this is
the type of fresh air we are going to breathe in. it is very wicked
for the Federal Government even to have done this on the first of
January.”
At the end of the less than three hours encounter at the square,
more than 650 people had signed the book.
It was a sign that more trouble was imminent for the
government, as the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress
and the Trade Union Congress later declared a total strike. Buoyed
by the civil society groups and students of Nigerian universities,
who have been at home due to the strike embarked by the
members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Nigerians
marched through major streets across the country, denouncing
the Jonathan administration’s policy.
In Abuja, commercial and government businesses were
paralysed. Though the nation’s capital city witnessed an
unusually heavy deployment of armed security personnel as
major roads leading to the sprawling Federal Secretariat were
strictly monitored by policemen and soldiers, Nigerians were
undeterred.
From the popular Berger Junction through Wuse Market and AP
Plaza Junction, which protesters renamed ‘Freedom Square,’
several speeches were delivered to condemn the government’s
policy. Peacefully, the protesters unburdened their minds amid
tight security. Government and private workers stayed off duty as
most offices were closed. In his speech, President, TUC, Peter
Esele, said the labour movement would not abandon the Nigerian
people and that they would stand up to the challenges of leading
them to the Promised Land. On his part, the President, NLC,
Abdulwahed Omar, said labour knew that its quest in resisting
the removal of subsidy would be tortuous and long, but that
adequate planning was made to ensure its sustenance. He
condemned the government for having “the thirst of taking from
the people the only thing that makes them happy.”
The NLC president faulted the government for slashing only 25 per
cent of the basic salaries of political office holders, saying, “This
cannot be described as a sacrifice as it amounts to nothing
compared to the massive suffering that will be visited on the
people via the removal of fuel subsidy.” Unlike when Atewe led
soldiers from his brigade to disperse the protesters on January 2,
the police earned uncommon praise from Nigerians for
protecting the protesters in Abuja.
While conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the protest at
‘Freedom Square,’ Zuokumor described the protest as the
legitimate right of the people, but was quick to add that there
was the need for decorum. He, however, pleaded with the
protesters to use the designated routes for their procession and
lauded them for remaining law-abiding.
Across the country, Nigerians have been throwing up their anger
on their leader. Even the deaths of some of them have not
deterred them from expressing their anger. But will the President
listen to those that elected him to office?
A former Special Assistant to the late Chief MKO Abiola, Olu
Akerele, said the electorate deserved to be listened to by the
President. He said this would help in cooling down the tension in
the country and that it would help in preventing the
disintegration of the country during Jonathan’s tenure. He called
on the President to listen to the advice given to him by members
of the National Assembly, who have all called for the suspension
of the implementation of the removal of the subsidy. Akerele said
it was apparent that the environment was not yet stable for the
subsidy removal and called on the President to revert to N65 per
litre and consult more widely on the way forward.
But to the PDP, the ongoing protests have been hijacked by the
opposition politicians. The party said it was unfortunate that
those who failed during the April general elections had found
their ways into labour and civil society groups to register their
anger against the government of Jonathan. The PDP said the
politicians, who it accused of losing at both the polls and courts,
had now taken an advantage of the protests by Nigerian workers
to incite Nigerians in order to cause political instability in the
country.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Alkali,
who said this in a statement, noted that the comments credited
to the unnamed politicians had led to the mass movement of
Nigerians from places where they earn their legitimate living to
their states of origin. Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Save Nigeria
Group has, however, debunked such cl
s, saying the PDP was
out to cause disaffection among united Nigerians against the
government policy.
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