Lagosians today woke up to the News of President Jonathan's Speech, in which he announced the reduction of the pump price of petrol to N97/liter.
However, Lagosians also woke up to the heavy presence of Armed Military men manning checkpoints around areas where protesters gathered in huge numbers last week.
An earlier report that the Federal Government had instructed the military authorities to deploy soldiers in major cities and towns in the country on Monday against protesters have come under heavy criticisms.
Indications on Sunday had it that the Federal Government had concluded plans to use soldiers to intimidate protesters when the nationwide protests resume on Monday.
But the authorities of the Nigerian Army on Sunday denied knowledge of such a move to deploy soldiers in the streets to hound protesters in Abuja.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen Raphael Isah, who denied knowledge of the purported move to deploy soldier in Abuja streets argued that soldiers had always been in the streets in Abuja.
He said, “I am not aware of this thing you are talking about. But soldiers have always been in the streets so what is this deployment thing you are talking about. I am not aware of it.”
However, the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Save Nigeria Group faulted the alleged plan to deploy millitary officers in the protests centres.
National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday warned that deployment of military officers would not solve the nation’s problems, saying the masses were ready to defend their right.
He said, “The Federal Government should be advised not to take such obnoxious step. No amount of military deployment will put an end to the rising problems. It would only worsen the situation.
“As a responsible government, you should respect the voice of the governed. They should accede to the voice of the people before things become uncontrollable.”
Mohammed urged the Federal Government to engage in an effective dialogue that would solve the immediate problem of the people.
“If the people say they don’t want a policy, the government must listen, because they are elected by the people. The government must be willing to admit when it is wrong,” he added.
The spokesman for the Save Nigerian Group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said the plan of the Federal Government to deploy Military officers was not realisable.
Odumakin said, “When a civilian president begins to mobilise the military against peaceful and orderly protests, it means a short man casting long shadow as a prelude to setting the sun.”
Also, a prominent constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, said the plan to deploy soldiers to deal with anti-fuel protesters in Lagos was illegal and dangerous.
Sagay said so far the subsidy protest had been peaceful and it had not degenerated to a level of deploying the army in the state.
He warned that the deployment of soldiers would escalate the protest beyond subsidy removal to a different phenomenon that would not be in the best interest of the people.
Sagay said, “The idea of using the army to deal with anti-subsidy removal protesters in Lagos is illegal and dangerous. This is because soldiers are not supposed to be used internally except there is a state of emergency.”
“Soldiers are not made to maintain civil order because they do not possess the same mentality as the police. Theirs is to shoot and kill. The situation at present is not appropriate for such an action. But if it were in a situation like Boko Haram where Nigeria’s integrity is at stake, it is a different ball game.”
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If the government actualizes this decision,it will confirm to us that they were not elected into office because any truely elected representative of the people will not foist an anti people policy and at the same use state might to repress dissent. We must reject the many facets of repression in the guise of fuel subsidy,overblown budgets that are never implemented even though funds are released,the lopsided 70:30% recurrent to capital expenditure where funds are allocated to service the perks of the less than 5% of the population while capital works and provision of power,roads,hospitals and schools for the good of all are hardly executed. This 'democrazy'is not good for us. We say no to subsidizing corruption!
ReplyDeleteHello fellow Nigerians. We re are insupport of the increase in fuel but the strikes continues.
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ReplyDeleteWhich do you prefer to dance to, the music of Femi Kuti or the military corporal punishment of frog jump dance. Go to Ojota if you prefer the latter.
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