Jonathan is present-day Pharaoh – Fawehinmi
Weekly Trust: What is your motivation for joining forces with other rights activists to protest fuel subsidy removal some weeks ago? Ganiyat Fawehinmi: I started the agitation much earlier than anybody. On December 31st, 2011, I led a protest when many Nigerians were already counting down the hours to the New Year. A gentleman had […]
Weekly Trust: What is your motivation for joining forces with other rights activists to protest fuel subsidy removal some weeks ago?
Ganiyat Fawehinmi: I started the agitation much earlier than anybody. On December 31st, 2011, I led a protest when many Nigerians were already counting down the hours to the New Year. A gentleman had called me on December 27th, 2012, informing me that come January 1st 2012, the President has concluded arrangement to remove the fuel subsidy. I said ‘that is not possible now, because the debate is still on’ and that if at all there would be anything like that, it would be March or April 2012. The man said ‘if what I told you isn’t correct, anytime I come to your house, ask the gatekeeper to throw me out or call the police to arrest me’. I said ‘it hasn’t gotten to that stage’ and he said when my husband was alive, he doesn’t joke with any information he gave to him.
So I met with my son, Barrister Muhammed Fawehinmi, and it was agreed that a press conference be convened and a street protest be organized to sensitize Nigerians over the impending development. The invitation for the press conference was sent through Facebook and was coordinated by Muhammed, because I had no Facebook account. On December 28th 2011, a press conference was held in this house. I told Nigerians about the impending shocker that awaited them on January 1st, 2012, though at the time I wasn’t really too sure. I said a reliable source has just informed me of the likelihood of fuel price increase on January 1st and people should brace up for the shocker.
On December 31, the rally was held. Only a few people showed up. They were not even up to 500, but all the same we held the rally to sensitise Nigerians. Some lawyers were so magnanimous to join me. People like Femi Falana, Ade Gboruwa and Mr. Amitolu Shittu who came all the way from Oshogbo, among other people. When we got to Ikeja, some of the rights activists advised me that I address Nigerians and as I was talking, many were just looking at me, they were asking ‘what is this woman saying’, it never clicked at all. They never believed me.
WT: So in summary, your participation was actually to live up to your husband’s billing?
Fawehinmi: Exactly. And, also, to continue his struggle for the masses.
WT: You were hardly known when Chief was alive. Do you think he would have allowed you participate in protest rallies?
Fawehinmi: Of course, yes. He would have even encouraged me. The only thing he would not have allowed is Muhammed’s participation. Although, Muhammed joined out of his own free will, yet he would not have allowed him because of his situation. Although when he was alive, I used to keep the home front, so people hardly heard my voice, but now that he is no more and things are getting worse daily, I have no choice but to join the masses on the streets.
WT: Have the action and the protest rallies achieved anything?
Fawehinmi: Yes, though not to many Nigerians’ satisfaction. Initially, the President said there was no going back from the N141, but when he saw the nationwide protest and rallies and people were calling for his impeachment and the economy was grinding to a halt, I think it was at that point God touched his heart. He knew if the protest has continued for another one week, his government might have collapsed and he would no more be the President. People will either impeach him or do something drastic.
WT: So would you say you’re satisfied with the outcome?
Fawehinmi: I am not satisfied at all. And majority of Nigerians are not satisfied. Actually, the price will even be cheaper than the N65 if crude oil is being refined in Nigeria. So I’m telling you that I will always be available and be part and parcel of any other struggle that would see to the reduction in suffering.
WT: But don’t you think government is still coming back to complete the removal of fuel subsidy by the time the 2012 budget takes off in April as there is no money earmarked for subsidy?
Fawehinmi: I’ve said on many occasions that there is no subsidy anywhere. Look at this book in my hand, written by my late husband and published exactly 10 years ago. Gani said in the book that there is no subsidy in the pump prices of petroleum being sold in Nigeria. He gave the analysis and I will allow you to go through it yourself. It is a ruse. There is no subsidy anywhere, they only gang up and share this money among themselves. And Tam David West has even confirmed it. He came out on TV and even challenged government officials to come out and debate it if there is any subsidy at all.
WT: Has Nigeria moved in anyway closer to Late Fawehinmi’s aspirations?
Fawehinmi: Not all. This is not the kind of Nigeria my late husband dreamt of and fought for. You can see that there is no power supply as we speak now, except we put on the generator. As a Nigerian, you have to generate your own electricity, provide water and security for your family and all that. Many Nigerians now have typhoid because of the unhealthy water they drink. Even the sachet water, popularly known as “pure water”, which is the least a poor man can afford, has moved from N5 to N10. This is the hottest part of the year, so imagine how many sachets of water would be consumed by an individual in a day and what it would eventually cost by the end of the month.
Many can’t afford three square meals. Some will eat breakfast, skip lunch and then eat supper. Some will fast throughout morning and afternoon and when they want to break in the evening, there is nothing to break with. It is as if Nigerians are starving and it is very unfair. So, in a nutshell I am not happy with the state of the nation and I am very sure Chief Fawehinmi won’t be happy in his grave either.
WT: What grouse specifically do you have against the government?
Fawehinmi: The president didn’t vote himself to be there, people voted that he may be there. Although, I did not vote for him and I make bold to say it anywhere, because I know quite well he would not be a good President. Those who voted for him are even regretting now. This is a man who was formerly a deputy governor in Bayelsa, then governor, vice president, courtesy of Obasanjo, whom because of his age, I would not like to disrespect. Obasanjo imposed both Yar’adua and Jonathan on us and pretended as if Nigerians voted them in. Eventually, Jonathan became President and this is all he has to offer Nigerians who put him there.
It is a pity that many of our people do not use to see beyond their noses. You will see a man who will not perform and you will vote him in there. How can a man who has no manifesto rule a country of over 150 million people? From the onset, he has failed.
A day after many people who attended a church service in Madalla were killed, one would have expected the President to declare a national day of mourning. Nevertheless, I was surprised that the President was smiling! Maybe the television I watched was different from what others watched at the time, I would not know, but I was shocked. And a week after, he unleashed terror on the hapless masses with the hike in the pump prices of petroleum. It is better he has a rethink. Even if people cannot do anything to him, God is there. I see him as the modern-day Pharaoh, whom God told to let the Israelites go but was adamant. And after God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Pharaoh called them back, and that is exactly how Jonathan has behaved. God eventually destroyed Pharaoh in the Red Sea, I hope, Jonathan as a Christian who reads his bible, would be on his knees, apologise to Nigerians and be spared of God’s wrath. If anybody cannot tell him, I make bold to tell him that he has offended Nigerians and he should apologise.
WT: What about government justification that the subsidy money would be re-channeled into developmental projects for the country?
Fawehinmi: Let them not deceive us. There is no subsidy anywhere.
WT: Don’t you think with this critical stance against government, many people in power would not like you much?
Fawehinmi: I do not even want them to like me. All I want is for the poor masses to live like normal human beings. Let them enjoy their lives. Let government give them what is due to them. I may not be accurately right, but facts at my disposal reveal that about 90 percent of Nigerians are poor. Must they be allowed to die in abject poverty? The President himself said not until he was 13 years old, he did not have a pair of shoes. Therefore, that tells you the kind of poverty he must have been exposed to at childhood. Now that God has put him there, why is he unleashing terror on fellow Nigerians?
WT: How was the experience like in those trying days when your husband was always being arrested and detained?
Fawehinmi: Those periods were turbulent. Right from the military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo to that of General Sani Abacha, there was hardly a month he was not detained or harangued. However, sometimes, he would not be taken too far away from home. He was at different times detained in Alagbon, Shangisha, Area F, Panti or Intercity Centre. They will just come, whisk him away and later release him. In fact, I even lost count until the day he said it himself that it reached 29 times.