18th January, 2012
The recent deployment of soldiers on the streets of Lagos by the Federal Government came as a shock to both the residents and even the government of the state, as it was uncalled for and a breach of the constitutional rights of the people in a democracy.
When the Federal Government suddenly announced the removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit on the first day of the new year, a policy which it had promised would be implemented in April, naturally the people reacted with peaceful protests as would have happened in any civilised society.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, were still consulting with the Federal Government on the subsidy when the President Jonathan administration, in a show of force, announced the removal to the chagrin of Nigerian, who were forced to take to the streets to show their disenchantment over the policy, and the protests were in no way illegal.
Deploying soldiers to prevent peaceful protesters from demonstrating was one mistake too many by the present administration, and Nigerians from all walks of life have continued to condemn the action. The Federal Government had given its reason for doing so, that it’s trying to prevent the protests from being hijacked by hoodlums but we believe that was not the case, as eminent and responsible Nigerians were part of the protests and supported the demonstrations against an unpopular policy.
The unnecessary move by the current administration has thrown up many questions, least of which is why the federal authorities had not met the Boko Haram Islamic sect with such a show of force, in the face of the number of lives that have been lost and the threat of civil war in that part of the country.
If anything, the police in Lagos were able to contain the situation and had been doing just that, save for one or two isolated incidents where they had gone beyond their bounds, and the erring Divisional Police Officer is already answering for his crime of shooting defenceless Nigerians who were not even protesting but playing football on the street.
The Nigerian constitution, as we all know, allows for peaceful demonstrations against unpopular policies and the use of security forces to contain such if it degenerates to the level of violence, but we wonder why the president would deem it fit to demonstrate his power as if he were an army general against violent enemies.
We believe the President Jonathan administration could have done better, at least the protests had not got out of hand in the state he deployed his troops. To deploy soldiers to a peaceful state should have been the last thing the present administration should have thought of. After all, the Boko Haram menace is still with us, even if it was overtaken in the last few days by the protests over the removal of subsidy on petrol.
To curtail the right of free speech in a democracy is to say the least provocative. If the procession of Joint Action Front, JAF, had been led by hot-headed activists, it would have resulted in bloodshed as the procession was disrupted by soldiers who actually struggled with leaders of the group and attempted to seize the camera of a photo journalist.
The people have a right to peaceful protest and President Jonathan must not forget that. The soldiers should be removed from the streets of Lagos now.