President Jonathan And The Deployment Of Soldiers To Lagos —Tayo Ogunbiyi

The concept of democracy has received varying definitions and interpretations from scholars and political observers depending on the ideological leaning or interest of the contending scholars. However, there are certain basic features of democracy that serve as consensus among the contending perspectives. One of such is accountability. Every democratically elected government is accountable to the people, to whom it owes its existence. These people, therefore, need to be consistently told how public funds are being spent and that the mandate given, are being utilised. No government has the monopoly of knowledge with regards to finding the right solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting the State. It is, therefore, imperative that every government throws its doors open to divergent opinions and views from various sources, the opposition inclusive.

Another very important hallmark of democracy is freedom of association, speech and expression. This is very fundamental in a democracy as people have the right to make their viewpoints known on wide ranging issues that affect them. Consequently, there is a constant interaction of ideas between the government and the citizens which makes for a robust polity. Hence, the louder the people speak the better for the polity. Thus, when things get to a point in a democracy when people cannot freely express themselves it portends a great danger for the system.

One can then imagine the rude shock on the faces of Lagosians when they woke up on the morning of Monday 16 January to discover that President Goodluck Jonathan had deployed hundreds of gun-wielding soldiers on the streets of Lagos in a desperate bid to forestall peaceful protests scheduled to continue that day. Through reports from local and foreign media it was revealed that armed soldiers had taken positions in such spots as Ikeja, Ikoyi, Surulere and Ojota as well as other places where thousands of Nigerians had poured out in protest against government’s sharp increase in price of petrol. Media reports confirmed that as many as 16 check points and barricades were mounted around the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota by soldiers backed with armoured tanks. The situation was akin to that of a troop in the battle front. This is a fundamental breach on the right of the people to associate and freely express their views.

Undoubtedly, since the beginning of this present political dispensation the military have really integrated itself into the larger society in a laudable and professional manner. We will always appreciate their effort in defending the sovereignty of the country. Nevertheless, it is incontestable that the Nigerians who gathered in several parts of Lagos like Falomo, Ikorodu and Ojota to mention a few largely conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing while they expressed their displeasure at a decision that affected them. It is condemnable for government to unleash terror and violence on such defenceless citizens who were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. We are not in a state of war and it is against all democratic norms for government to invade peaceful and unarmed civilians.

Even if there is any reason to curtail breakdown of laws and orders, the responsibility of handling such in a constitutional democracy, is that of the police especially if civil protest threatens the breach of the peace. The police are a better agency to interact with those peaceful demonstrators, civil actions, etc. It is not a matter for the military. The sooner we get this fact right, the better and stronger for our democracy. If anything, the anti-fuel subsidy protest is a most welcome one in our democratic evolvement as it provokes a discussion of economic policies that could result in political debate. This is what makes democracy thick. Though the President Jonathan raised concerns about the direction of the demonstrations in his speech when he claimed that the protests were being “hijacked” by partisans and individuals who he alleged are planning to sow “discord, anarchy and insecurity, in all honesty the Lagos protest was violence-free days with great comportment and no loss of life, damage to property and violation of any law of the land. It is therefore, curious that a democratic government would deploy military tanks and troops against such a peaceful assembly in clear violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of citizens to freely assemble and express their feelings.

I listened to the spokesperson of the State Security Service, Marilyn Ogar while she tried to defend the deployment of troops to Lagos on television and I couldn’t see any logic in her defence. She claimed that some of the protesters in Lagos were calling the president names as well as committing other such offences which according to her amounted to treason. Is this enough to deploy troops in a civilised democracy? Are there no other constitutional means of dealing with such perceived illegality? Sincerely, those that gathered at various spots in the country to protest against fuel subsidy removal are not the real enemies of the president. Neither are they the problem of the country. They are the same comedians, Nollywood stars, musicians, artisans and masses that the President ran to when he wanted to contest the presidency. Rather, the real enemies of the president and the country are those who will not tell the president the truth for selfish reasons. They are those who hang around the corridor of power to milk the nation dry. They are those that hide in the dark to fund deadly groups to unleash terror on innocent citizens. They are those that award billions of naira worth of phony contracts and yet remain power brokers in the polity.

Part of the hypocrisy and deception of governance in Nigeria is that the authority is always swift to molest harmless people whose main desire is to see that government serves the good of all. All his life, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi used his personal resources to relentlessly fight the cause of the masses in the country. He never fought a personal battle. He was so blessed by God that he could have turned his eyes the other side irrespective of what the plight of the masses was. He was beaten. He was jailed. He was harassed. His health suffered greatly. Yet, Gani was not cowed. Ironically, some of those who, at the risk of their lives, fought for the realisation of the democracy we have today, were among the crowd that the president rolled out the troops to intimidate and silence in Lagos! If the president could swiftly deploy troops to Lagos to protect law and order, how come the troubled spots in the country such as Jos, Bauchi, Adamawa, Maiduguri, among others are yet to know lasting peace? How come the president has not acted in like swift manner to tackle smuggling along our porous borders? Why has the president been unable to bring the so-called ‘cabal’ involved in the subsidy fraud to book? How come we have not been able to summarily round up those who have continued to kill innocent Nigerians even right inside worship places and even have the courage to take responsibility for such dastardly act? Between the one who comes out in the open to express his grievances and the one who stays in the secret to destabilise the country, which is a greater evil?

It is heartwarming to note that eminent Nigerians, at home and abroad, have spoken out in strong terms against the deployment of soldiers to the streets of Lagos. These Gestapo military occupation of streets of major cities of Nigeria will inevitably drive voices of democratic opposition underground and this scenario will undermine the advancement of democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism in Nigeria. All over the world, it has been proven that might cannot be used to thwart the aspiration of a people. Long after the late leader of Boko Haram was allegedly killed in extra- judicial fashion, his followers have continued to pose as threat to the security of the country. Candidly, the fact that government is now coming up with plans to fight corruption in the oil industry and even suddenly soft-pedal on the fuel price issue is a reflection that freedom of expression and association develop rather than stifle democracy.

•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.