Dear Lagosians,
For the past few days, I have monitored the developments related to the public protest against the
increase in the pump price of petrol.
During that period, I have at the invitation of my colleagues in the Governor’s Forum responded to an invitation from the Presidency.
My role since last Monday till date has been to find a ground of compromise that stabilizes the polity, protects our democracy and prevent any loss of lives.
Inspite of these efforts, we were not wholly successful in preventing the loss of the life of a young Nigerian, AdemolaAderinto who was sadly shot.
I am truly saddened by that ugly development. While I condole with his family, I pledge the commitment of our Government to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice.
I have decided to address you today in view of the very disquieting developments that
occurred overnight especially the deployment of soldiers across Lagos.
I have the highest respect for members of our military, especially because they have made a contract with all of us that they will willingly lay down their lives whenever it becomes necessary to do so, in order to protect us.
This covenant is instructive, because soldiers did not sign up to stop us from expressing our
grievance about things that we are displeased about.
It is not disputable that the citizens who have gathered in several parts of Lagos like Falomo,
Ikorodu and Ojota to mention a few have largely conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing while they expressed their displeasure at the way that we have taken decisions that affect them.
That in my view should not offend those of us in Government. The majority of these people who represent diverse interests have not broken any law. If they have, it is my opinion that in a constitutional democracy, it is the police that hasthe responsibility for restoring law and order if civil protests threatens the breach of the peace.
This is not justification for sending out soldiers to a gathering of unarmed citizens. Every one of us, or at least majority of us who hold public office danced and sang before these same people when we were seeking their votes.
Why should we feel irritated when they sing and dance in protest against what we have done?
For me this is not a matter for the military. The sooner we rethink and rescind this decision the better and stronger our democracy will be.
If anything, this is a most welcome transformation of our democracy in the sense that it provokes a discussion of economic policies and this inevitably may result in political debate.
I therefore urge the reconsideration of the decision to deploy soldiers and implore the President and Commander-in-Chief to direct their withdrawal from our streets, I must also emphasize that the rights of free speech and protest is not absolute.
They impose the duty not to break the law, breach the peace, endanger human life or destroy property whether public or private.
They also impose the duty to respect the rights of others not to support our protest and indeed to support what we oppose. At the end of the day, it is a contest of ideas in which the most persuasive will get the endorsement of the majority of the people we serve.
I am convinced that our democracy is mature enough to accommodate this. We must do our best to ensure that it does.
God bless you all.
BabatundeRajiFashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State
Monday, January 16, 2012
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Good one...Your excellency.
ReplyDeleteeven though you also bullied protesters in Lekki,i still think it took a lot of courage to speak up.
ReplyDeletewelldone
nice speech there our patriotic fashola
ReplyDeleteFinally... A Nigerian political leader who understands what political leadership is all about... Fashola for President jare...
ReplyDeleteGov Fashola is just being a hypocrite. Why speak against another man for doing the very same thing u did during the #occupyLekki protests? I get tired of the games politicians play on us Nigerians...
ReplyDeleteis this really coming from a Governor who terrorized Lagosians by forcing the lekki toll pill down thier throats?or is it because the federal government almost unseated him that is making our "Goernor" have a rethink of those he had chosen to dine with?
ReplyDeletefashola abeg make i hear word,as if you wont do d same if u were in presido's shoes. im not supporting any of them,all im sayin is power corupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely..
ReplyDeleteGov.Raji Fashola is really an hypocrite.During d Lekki protest,u can see how police brutalize unarmed protesters!!Politicians will remain Politicians,wheather ACN,PDP,APGA,CPC!!They are all d same
ReplyDeleteWe have a problem in Nigeria. It is kettle calling pot black. See how Oshiomole turned out to be, just because he is now in government. We voted for these people but did not ask them to oppress us. However the army should be withdrawn from Lagos street.
ReplyDeleteWe understand you all, you are all the same. The Lekki tollgate and Local Govt Election massive rigging is an indication that our dear Gov and his political father can do worse than our President.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, you will all benefited from the subsidy money.
@ Obaoye
ReplyDeleteyes you are right and we understand that you would do likewise or even worse when you are in that position.
look@kettle calling pot black.fashola did d samething when he increase Lasu schoolfee from N25,000 to 250,000 late last year(2011).they 're all 'mafias'.
ReplyDeleteLet us try and understand objectively the point Governor Fashola is making. I think he is absolutely correct in the points he made and some of the decisions he has taken so far. Lekki toll gate for instance is designed to aid road maintenance whenever the need arose. Are you comfortable with the state of Nigerian road which came about as a result of long neglect? Lasu school fees increase has been justified by the reasons he put across. Aren't you disturbed by the rot and moral decadence in our educational system? These are some of the issues the raise in school fees are meant to address. Please let us give Governor Fashola thumps up.
ReplyDelete