‘Sovereign National conference is the answer’

Opadokun

Coordinator of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) Mr. Ayo Opadokun spoke with

Coordinator of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) Mr. Ayo Opadokun spoke with reporters on the state of the nation. Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

How do you see the recent face-off between the Federal Government and the organised labour over the removal of petrol subsidy?

Primarily, I am convinced that the organised labour and civil society groups have legitimate and constitutional means to protest against unjust policies as they found it. For me, it was a significant departure from the opportunistic collaboration of our people with their tormentors in power. The fact that they found sudden increase in the price of petrol been raised from N65 to N141 and they went out to express their anger and protest in a democratic constitutional means is justified. That was a significant departure and I believe that the Arab Spring has had some positive effects on our people that no one will give you your right on a platter of gold. You must fight for it and you must take all necessary legitimate and constitutional means to prevail. Particularly, in a so called civilian "democratic" regime the citizens are the boss. Those in temporary sojourn of office are not supposed to be masters while the voters or the civilians remain as either slaves or spent forces.

What lessons do you think we should learn from the protests?

When the nationwide strike and protests started, I saw a beautiful newly found conduct by the Nigerian Police. I watched live proceedings at various spots all over the country; the Nigerian Police stood some distance from where the protests were going on and nobody was harming anybody. The protests were mostly civil, they were very decent without any uproar and no violence. But again, I became suspicious when labour and civil society organisations decided that they were going to call off the strike for two days so that people could refill. I was suspicious as to whether or not it would be possible for them to restore the protest to the stage that it had reached by Friday evening. So, I was shocked when organised labour decided not to continue the protest and put the civil society in a quandary. It was a moment of rejection, a case of betrayal of the joint action by the organised labour. In any case, I was not too surprised. That was not the first time that such had happened. Some of these labour leaders have utilised populist reaction in situation like this, to pump up themselves and their image as if they were decent activists who were willing to provide leadership for the civil populace to reject unpopular measures but that was not going to be.

So, you think they betrayed the people ...

I felt betrayed as some other people have talked about the situation and I thought that with what they have done, it will be difficult for them to convince members of the civil society again to collaborate with them to take joint action to protect their civil liberties in the nearest future. I was in a way briefly excited at the prospect of Nigerians being ready to fight their battle for themselves. While we were fighting under the platform of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a number of significant times, some members have asked us as to what was going to be the thing that the Nigerian government would do that could push the people unto the streets to protest against such things. We find it really difficult to say because most of the things that were done here if ten per cent of them were to be done in other climes such government must have been toppled by civil democratic anger. But for our people, they always resort to whatever means- I don’t want to die, I want to buy another house, I want to marry the second wife.

The Federal Government later deployed soldiers in Lagos to stop the protest against the removal of fuel subsidy. What is your reaction to this development?

I felt betrayed and from that day onward.I say this without any atom of inhibition that President Jonathan has lost legitimacy to govern. He has lost the moral right to continue in office as a civilian ruler for deploying Nigerian army in full battle gear to take over spots where civil protests had been going on peacefully and effectively occupying them by his military officers. He cannot be heard again to talk about any credibility for the remaining part he will spend in that office and he will be doing so on borrowed terms. The civilians who have now been denied in a very violent manner the legitimate constitutional rights to protest against unjust policies, have a duty to themselves henceforth to resort to constitutional and legitimate means to reject unpopular measures. They should take the protest to Aso Rock to tell President Jonathan to resign from office. Quite frankly, he cannot govern legitimately as a civilian president unless and until he is aided by full blown military. That was what he has done and whenever a civilian regime starts inviting the military unto the streets, they do themselves too much harm. If you cannot govern without the military battle ready on the streets, how can you now deny the military the right to fully take over the system and run it. You will be speaking from two sides of your mouth and you will never be credible. It’s a shame that the so-called Minister of Defence was quoted as saying that some people were trying to use the protest to attack political opponents. Where is the evidence?

But the federal government feared that the protest could degenerate into breakdown of law and order. What is your view?

For the five days that Nigerians were protesting, there was no violence anywhere. The snapshots of violence were not even close to where the big protesters were. But the real protesters all over the country, in Kano, Kaduna, Awka, Port Harcourt, Delta. The demonstrations were devoid of any violence of any kind. That a ruler who called himself a civilian ruler had to resort to deploying troops to prevent Nigerians from openly opposing his unpopular policy is too reactionary. It does not make for a civilian regime profile that can command respects in any part of the world. I say it again, the rights of Mr. President as the Commander-in-Chief to deploy troops is sanctioned by law and guided by law. Under emergency, Mr. President is allowed if the parliament is not in session to deploy the troops but within seven days the parliament must sit down to discuss whether to approve or to disapprove. President Jonathan deployed Nigerian soldiers on Nigerian streets without any legitimacy. There was no state of emergency, he has not declared any and he deployed troops to take over where civilians were democratically opposing his dubious policy. So, he has acted illegally.

But why has the country not moved forward since the restoration of civil rule?

I will like to say it again that Nigerians have been under a negative jinx for too long. What am I talking about? Those who really aspire to make Nigeria great, fighting for its development; they are never allowed to get to the seat of power. Characters who never aspired along with the power drivers have always succeeded in manipulating the system in their favour. Under the NADECO platform, we thought with the advent of civilian populace the living condition of our people will greatly improve. What we are witnessing today is beyond what is tolerable. The misery, the wanton economic deprivation in our land today, is unjustified in any circumstances. There is no reason, there is no basis for which Nigerians are going through this wicked economic situation.

Here is a country that is exporting averagely 1.7 million barrels of crude oil everyday at an average of 75 to 80 dollars per day and yet the living condition of our people is getting poorer and poorer everyday. It’s an ungodly situation. Very ungodly situation and that is why for some people like us, this so called fuel subsidy thing is just one aspect of the evils of the lopsided, warped disrupted national structure conferred on a nation. It’s the system in Nigeria that has permitted the various negative conducts of public officers while they were in office. Any system that a small clique of people can rubbish and thwart the wishes of the Nigerian people as declared in an election. So, the situation is very bad.

What is your reaction to attempts to read ethnic meaning to the protest?

I believe that President Jonathan has shot himself in his feet totally. His act was totally condemnable. There can be no justification for what he has done. So when I read the statements of a number of people, those statements were in the right direction. Those who are prompting President Jonathan to misbehave, to misrule, they are faceless. He is the one that will carry the can.

There is this negative tendency to ethnicise, regionalise the events in very despicable situation. There was no basis for our brothers and sisters from the Niger Delta areas, Ijaws and the likes, to imagine that of all the very negative publications that they are making, trying to put ethnic sentiment in the advertisements that were published in some national papers. Making such innuendos that there is a programme to remove President Jonathan from office, those things are very opportunistic.