Mass action: Jonathan was humbled by Nigerians – Bakare

The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group and Serving Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Tuesday said the mass action embarked upon by Nigerians to protest the sudden increase in the cost of the price of petrol succeeded in humbling the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Bakare, at a news conference where he announced that the SNG would be convening a thank you rally next Saturday, said that at no other time had Nigerians taught their leader a lesson in humility as it happened during the mass action last week.

He said: “The arrogance of officialdom got a humbling experience with the unprecedented popular actions that took place across the country during the strikes called by the NLC and TUC to protest the unpopular decision of government. The SNG and its allies were pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of millions of Nigerians to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota during the 5 days that shook Nigeria. Never in the history of our country has such a large crowd gathered on a spot for days in a peaceful and orderly assembly with no untoward occurrence. This is a loud testimony that given the right leadership, our people are mature enough to organize their lives and behave responsibly. It is the unruly leadership causing systemic dislocation in our country that has given the wrong impression that there is something wrong in the genes of Nigerians.


“Though we are very disappointed in the way the controlling leadership of the NLC and TUC have buckled in the knees without consulting the SNG and its allies and without achieving their resolution that “reversal to N65 per litre shall be the basis of any negotiation”, we do not want our people to be disillusioned about their capacity to bring about change in the society. While we outrightly reject the unilateral fixing of pump price at N97 by the Federal Government upon which the controlling leadership of NLC & TUC threw a spanner in the wheel of peoples movement, it must not be lost on our patriotic people that the climb down by a government which had arrogantly declared that its decision was final is the proverbial eating of the humble pie. So also are the administration’s pledges to investigate the oil subsidy cabal, ensure that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed and cut the cost of governance. These are issues the regime was not ready to address before the movement of the people. Nigerians must not give up on these issues until logical and conclusive actions are taken on them.”

Bakare said the decision of the government to increase the cost of fuel by 117 per cent “was an audacious move that signaled the deep contempt by the government for the capacity of the Nigerian people to show righteous indignation over vicious attack on their living rights. Those in authority must have concluded that with the level of poverty inflicted on our people, especially in the last 13 years where poverty has risen in inverse proportion to the growth in revenue, the anguish of spirit has raised a totally docile citizenry who will only dig a hole to escape and continue running when pushed to the wall.

 “This is the only explanation for the impunity with which all warnings from organized labour and the civil society were treated by the Federal Government whose officials were so arrogant and condescending in their public utterances on the issue of subsidy removal. It was a shocked people who watched as the regime lampooned the resolutions of the two chambers of the National Assembly on the matter as “mere opinions” forgetting so soon that the “doctrine of necessity” which was invoked by the same National Assembly less than two years ago after Nigerians trooped to the streets against the “power hijack” by the then cabal was never ridiculed!

“Let it be emphasized that it does our democracy no good when the resolutions of the National Assembly are trashed by the Executive as we recently witnessed on the issue of subsidy removal. Neither does it show any appreciation for truth and consistency when the same beneficiary of our civil protests in the dying days of President Yar’Adua’s administration who praised the civil societies eloquently in glowing terms in May 2010 now calls the same people unprintable names.”