Fashola Seeks Withdrawal Of Soldiers

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Monday called for the immediate withdrawal of soldiers from the streets, as there was no development in the State that warranted such huge presence of the military men.

Governor Fashola who spoke in a statewide broadcast on the deployment of soldiers across Lagos, said: “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.”

The governor explained that protesters in Lagos conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing while expressing their displeasure at the way some decisions affecting them were taken, adding that there was no justification for the deployment of soldiers to the streets.

He believed that since the protesters who represent diverse interests, have not broken any law, the sudden presence of soldiers on the major streets of Lagos was unnecessary, noting that if the protesters break the law, it is the police that has the responsibility for restoring law and order, if civil protests threaten the peace.

Fashola called for caution on the temptation to give negative connotation to the protest especially the carnival like style of the protest because, as he said, “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?”

He saw the protest as providing an avenue for public discourse. “If anything, this is a most welcome transformation of our democracy in the sense that it provokes a discussion of economic policies and this may inevitably result in political debate,” he added.

The governor, however, cautioned the protesters to note that the rights of free speech and protest is not absolute as, such rights impose the duty not to break the law, breach the peace, endanger human life or destroy property whether public or private, on the user.

Such rights, he added, also impose the duty to respect the rights of others not to support a protest and indeed to support what one opposes “because 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” and expressed conviction that “Nigeria’s democracy is mature enough to accommodate it.”

The governor explained that he had the highest respect for members of the military especially because they have made a contract with all Nigerians that they would willingly lay down their lives whenever it became necessary to do so, in order to protect Nigerians, but noted that soldiers did not sign up to stop Nigerians from expressing their grievance about things that they are displeased about.

He stressed that his role since last Monday that the logjam began has been to find a ground of compromise that stabilizes the polity, protects Nigeria’s democracy and prevent any loss of lives and wondered why soldiers should be deployed in the state even as he, on the invitation of his colleagues, had been involved in efforts at bringing the impasse to an end.

The governor regretted the death of a resident, Ademola Aderinto, saying, “In spite of these efforts, we were not wholly successful in preventing the loss of the life of a young Nigerian, Ademola Aderinto who was sadly shot. I am 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.”