Balancing Protest Success and Public Safety, By Gbemiga Ogunleye

Even if your surname is Tinubu, Akpabio, Abass or Akume, it will be difficult for you to fault the reasons for the ongoing protests with the hashtag: EndbadgovernanceHunger is walking on four legs in the country!

Not only the poor but also the proverbial middle class are finding it difficult to breathe!
Not to talk of those of us, who arguably are past our productive years!

The price of petrol, food, medicines and other essentials of life are frighteningly and provocatively expensive.

To make matters worse, the political elite who are asking us to tighten our belts are busy expanding theirs.

In short, the political elite have been genuinely irresponsible!

Or, how else do you explain the fact that the government since 1999 has not been able to build a single refinery!

So, for me, the protests are justified.
Having said that, one must admit that the government’s response has been pleasantly surprising.

Before the D-day, the President appealed passionately to the protesters to sheath their swords. He urged them to give him time, assuring them of the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

He met with the traditional rulers and other relevant stakeholders and pleaded with them to appeal to the people to shelve their plan to protest. I thought that was commendable and the Governors followed suit in the same direction. That, for me, was a recognition of the power of the people.

Now that the protests have entered the second day, methinks the protesters have made their point and the protests have achieved its purpose of calling attention to the plight of the people.

The government, I am sure, will no longer take the people for granted.

As the government feared, the protest has resulted into looting and loss of lives.
The government, rightly, was afraid of a repeat of the loss of lives and mindless destruction that accompanied the famous #endsarsprotests.

Even if the leaders of the protesters and their lawyers were in government today, they, too, would not encourage any protest.

True, protest is a democratic right guaranteed by the constitution, the same constitution empowers the government to deviate from that right if the peace and stability of the state is threatened.

In the United Kingdom where we copied our laws from, five climate activists were in July this year, jailed for a non-violent protest, under a new public nuisance law. Each of the activists is serving a term of at least four years in jail for their role in shutting down the M25 motorway.

The five Just Oil Protesters were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, after they joined a zoom call about the four-day demonstration that took place in November 2022.

Let me quote the judge, Christopher Hehir: “The protesters had crossed the line from campaigner to fanatic.”

Going forward, I plead that the protests be called off.

The government on its part should seize the opportunity of the protests to show that it shares in the aspirations of the people.
It is an insult on the intelligence of the people when the House of Representatives members say they are forfeiting 50% of their salaries, when we all know that the real deal is their humongous allowances.

It’s about time we started revisiting the idea of a bi-camera legislature.

I doubt whether a country in economic crisis can afford such.

In my view, the police have been professional and have shown utmost restraint.

The protesters should not push their luck.
It’s not advisable to carry the sacrifice beyond the mosque!

Please call off the protest.

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