16th January, 2012
After six days of strike during which the country was virtually shut down, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, this afternoon called off the strike.
Addressing journalists in Abuja with his Trade Union Congress, TUC, counterpart, Peter Esele, President of NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar said the strike was called off in the interest of Nigeria.
The labour leaders said they got the permission of the civil society coalition to call off the strike.
Omar clarified that organised labour was not part of the decision to fix the new pump price of petrol at N97, stressing that it was a unilateral decision by the government.
The labour leaders explained that they would cooperate with the Justice Belgore committee set up by the Federal Government to take a look at the pricing system of the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.
The labour leaders assured that the struggle for efficient management of the country’s petroleum resources has just begun, adding that labour would not abdicate its responsibility to the people.
TUC president, Peter Esele disclosed that the decision to call off the strike was in the best interest of workers and the country.
He explained that the decision was arrived at after their meeting with their coalition partners.
He also disclosed that ti was taken after their meeting which ended 3 a.m. today.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan today deployed soldiers to the streets of major cities in the country to quell protests against the removal of fuel subsidy even as labour has asked protesters to sit at home because of security concerns.
The president is hiding under the guise of security threats to deploy soldiers to cities, especially Lagos, southwest Nigeria, where the protest has been very massive but well organised.
The majority of Nigerians have seen this move as dictatorial and a ploy to silence the people.
The Save Nigeria Group deplored the deployment of soldiers to the streets of Lagos in a statement it issued today.
The fully armed soldiers took positions in such area as Ikeja, Ikoyi, Agege, Surulere and Ojota as well as other areas where thousands of Nigerians have poured out in protest against government’s increase in price of petrol.
About 16 check points and barricades weren mounted around the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota where a military armoured personnel carrier was staioned this morning. The park was the venue of massive rallies throughout last week.
In Ketu Area, soldiers clashed with protesters who tried to march to Gani’s Park. The protesters raised their arms in the air as soldiers shot into the air to scare them away.
The protesters retreated, then regrouped and came back.
Some protesters threw stones at the soldiers who shot again into the air. The protesters ran back and hid inside Ketu market.
The protesters sang war songs and warned that they will not be intimidated.
“We will not agree. We have the right to demonstrate. We have no guns. We have the right to protest. Why are you shooting into the air?” one protester said.
The soldiers threatened to arrest protesters who stormed Ikorodu road, Lagos enroute Ojota.
The protesters ran into a barricade at Palm Grove where they were confronted by armed soldiers who turned them back and threatened to shoot them if they moved beyond the area.
Determined to carry out their threats, the soldiers started shooting indiscriminately to disperse the protesters who were forced to retreat and run for their lives.
From the Yaba Secretariat of the NLC to Fadeyi, Jibowu and some other parts of Ikorodu road, P.M.NEWS correspondent reports that armed soldiers were deployed there but in Yaba and Jibowu they did not disturb a few people on the streets.
Even without NLC leaders, the Joint Action Forum, JAF, and other civil society groups took to the streets this morning, chanting solidarity songs like ‘we no go gree’.
JAF secretary, Comrade Biodun Aremu, others such as human rights lawyer Bamidele Aturu marched from Yaba to Jibowu and Fadeyi, calling on government to revert to N65 per litre of petrol.
The soldiers threatened to arrest one of the leaders of the civil society groups, Comrade Biodun Aremu. But Barrister Bamidele Aturu and others dissuaded the soldiers.
The protest shifted to the Afrika Shrine after soldiers prevented the protesters from gathering at the Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota.
Activist and foremost lawyer, Femi Falana was also prevented from going to Ojota for today’s rally. He reported to the state Commissioner of Police, Yakubu Alkali that his movement was restricted by the police.
The Lagos metropolis is still like a ghost town as banks and other business outfits did not open for work in compliance with the sit-at-home order of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
Civil servants, traders, artisans, commuter bus operators and others did not report for work in obedience to the sit-at home order by the NLC while the presence of soldiers did not help matters.
The streets and several areas that used to bubble in the Lagos metropolis before the strike were deserted. The expressways were as free as anything.
Miscreants who hijacked the protests last week in some parts of the metropolis to extort money from motorists were off the streets today.
Some hoodlums were however, seen on Old Abeokuta Road harassing motorists and demanding for money before they could allow them to drive through.
Soldiers in Agege were seen searching the boots of vehicles.
At Ojota, soldiers were reportedly harassing innocent Lagosians as some of them were made to frogjump on the assumption that they were coming to the Gani Fawehinmi Park to protest against fuel subsidy removal.
Several Nigerians, including human right activists have condemned the deployment of soldiers in Lagos and other parts of the country by President Jonathan to quell protest against the removal of fuel subsidy.
The activists have also rejected the N97 new fuel price announced by Jonathan last night, saying that they would fight to ensure a total reversal to N65 per litre.
“Full blown dictatorship is here now. With civilian government deploying soldiers to deal with protesters shows we are back to dictatorship,” says Mr. Yinka Odumakin, scribe of the Save Nigeria Group, SNG.
“Nigeria is no longer practising democracy but a dictatorship government. The N97 new pump price is not acceptable. Due to the fact that they have militarised everywhere, we will not allow them to drink our blood. We will come out with our plans later,” adds Odumakin, who was furious about the presence of soldiers on Lagos Streets.
“This is a dictatorship government being practised by Jonathan for bringing soldiers to the streets of Lagos,” Balarabe Musa, another activist said.
Comrade Bamidele Aturu was particularly furious about the presence of soldiers on the streets of Lagos.
“We are now back to military despotism and it is unfortunate that we have this in a civilian government,” he laments.
“Jonathan has an agenda to kill Nigerians but we will continue to protest. We are warning them not to use their guns to kill Nigerians because we will take them to the war crime tribunal.
“Jonathan is treading on dangerously. He should learn from Abacha. The N97 new fuel price is not acceptable; let him go back to N65 first. The man is behaving responsively,” Aturu says.
Barrister Oluwatosin Akeredolu, former President, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, condemned the deployment of soldiers to Lagos, saying the struggle is not yet over as labour would find ways to deal with the issue of soldiers’ presence in Lagos.
According to him, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, could explore two options, the first of which was to go to court to challenge the presence of soldiers on the streets, while the second was to go to court and challenge the power of Jonathan to reduce fuel price as only the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, had the power to reduce and increase fuel price.
Mr. Lanre Odubote, an Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, member of the House of Representatives condemned the deployment of soldiers to Lagos when the state is not at war, saying the action is unconstitutional.
“It is not right to deploy troops to quell civil protests when Lagos is not at war. It is unconstitutional; we will not accept it. The National Assembly will react to this,” he said.
Kemi Martins, an activist was angry about the deployment of soldiers to Lagos and said on facebook, “Mr Chief of Army Staff, the right to assemble and the right to associate are human rights. They are clearly accounted for in the African Charter on Rights also known as the Banjul Charter.
“I hope you have read it. This action of turning Nigerian soldiers into security guards of gardens all over Lagos is nothing more than an attempt to ridicule the newly reformed image of our military.
“It is an injustice to those who have sacrificed to give the Nigerian military the dignity that it is now enjoying after past corrupt military governments have soiled its dignity over the years.
“The Nigerian military is not a corp of house-boys. It is a disciplined corp that is allowed to question dishonourable duties. The military is obligated to defend the dignity of the Nigerian citizen, it is not obligated to defend the corruption of a morally decadent government,” she said.
Comrade Debo Adeniran of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) said Jonathan had tactically declared a state of emergency on the entire nation since he could deploy soldiers, whose jobs involve taking care of territorial borders.
“We are currently reviewing our tactics and are currently asking Nigerians to continue to occupy their neighbourhoods. Workers have also been advised to stay at home,” he said.
According to him, the current situation had shown that the President is weak and cannot take people of the country into consideration while trying to satisfy his clique.
“Deploying soldiers against innocent Nigerians whose actions are prescribed by the constitution shows weakness in its entirety. The honourable thing for him to do now is to resign.
“It is unthinkable to use brute force against something that he has termed legitimate,” he said asking Nigerians to begin to derecognise him so that once this is fully accomplished, “the real Nigerian Spring would begin if the President fails to act on the demand of the people of the country. What we are doing now is to assess our capacity before we confront them,” he added.
Comrade Biodun Sowunmi, head of the Civil Society Intervention Group, who was one of those behind the Ojota rally, described the situation in Lagos currently as ‘civilian dictatorship’
According to him, yesterday, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, his predecessor, Koffi Annan and the Chairman, United States House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence, Kenny Rogers, called the President and warned him against using force to halt protests in the country.
“He assured them that he would not go ahead against Ojota protesters especially. But this is no longer the situation,” he said adding that the position of the civil society has been sent to the Presidency.
Barrister Festus Keyamo, Lagos lawyer, said the president’s action is undemocratic and that he has started showing Nigerians his true colour. Keyamo said the President was a dictator like his predecessors.
“He just confirmed what I said immediately after the election that Jonathan is not a breath of fresh air, but a breath of foul odour,” he said.
He said Nigerians should be prepared to continue to confront the government, come out en-masse and carry out non-violent protests since it is in the constitution even in the face of molestations.
Assistant Secretary of NLC, Comrade Denja Yaqub NLC, described Jonathan as an emperor, but said the strike continues indefinitely.
He said: “To save lives, people should simply stay at home. There must be something this Jonathan is hiding, like his predecessors, about fuel price hike.
“At the beginning, he claimed to be consulting with stakeholders and suddenly hiked the price to N141— N200. And now, he gave the impression he was discussing with people, including the governors whom he hurriedly sent presidential jets to pick from their cosy locations yesterday while his men Friday were busy sending out lies around the world until now that he unilaterally decided to reduce the pump price of petrol to N97 per litre.
“This must be rejected. This has not affected the strike. The national strike is still on and its indefinite until you hear from the National Executive Councils of the NLC and TUCN, the two trade union centres that called the strikes, and NOT Jonathan who couldn’t stop Boko Haram, but has now sent soldiers out to murder Nigerian people.”
—Lanre Babalola, Kazeem Ugbodaga, Eromosele Ehbomele & Simon Ateba