Why we insisted that fuel price must revert to N65 – Shehu Sani

Many people want to know your reasons for disagreeing with the organised labour over the calling off of the recent strike action?   We are not disagreeing with labour but we are definitely disagreeing with N97 per liter of petrol. Our position is that the government must revert to the 65 naira pump price. We […]

Many people want to know your reasons for disagreeing with the organised labour over the calling off of the recent strike action?

 

We are not disagreeing with labour but we are definitely disagreeing with N97 per liter of petrol. Our position is that the government must revert to the 65 naira pump price. We led people to the street on the flag of N65 and not N97. What we are simply telling labour is that if the Nigerian worker can afford N97, with a minimum wage of N18,000, then the millions of non-working Nigerians living without any wages can’t afford it. If the labour are tired we are not. We will continue with the protest until the government reverts to the status quo.

What strategy did you adopt to mobilise people to come out for the protest?

We have been used to mobilising the masses to protest since the military era. Mobilising the masses to the street is part of our duty as activists. On this issue of subsidy removal, it is even the people who came telling us to lead them to the streets. Subsidy removal is a natural trigger for protest. People came out en masse to protest not because anyone incited them but because President Ebele Jonathan has taken a banal and deprave position that will ultimately ruin their lives; their families and their future. Removal of subsidy is ruinous and cataclysmic. President Ebele and his soulless technocrats are so disconnected from the realities of Nigeria. We are talking of human lives and they are talking of figures and economic index. The protest you saw was a protest against injustice and economic slavery. It was a protest to break from an entanglement. You can see how it spread nationwide. You can see the fervor, the spirit, revolutionary solidarity and energy displayed by all Nigerians in the north and the south.

What impact do you think the protest and the strike made on Nigeria and Nigerians?

The protest made enormous impact in its substance and style. First, it sent a clear message to our leaders that they can’t toy with us or take us for granted. Second, it awakens the spirit of nationhood and of resistance. Third, it demystified and humbled our arrogant and contemptuous governors who hitherto held an imperial haughtiness. Above all, it ended the hype and messianic posturing of the president and his men and women. We may not have gotten what we wanted yet but we have vibrated the pillars of economic slavery erected by the Okonjos to a staggering point of tilt.

It is clear that the military and the police have intimidated you out of the streets, forcing you to shelve your protest?

You need to get your facts right. Since the beginning of the protest we have never relented for once. Protest is a fundamental right of Nigerians. It is by protest we brought about this democracy and it is by protest we will protect it. We can’t be intimidated by the police or the military. President Jonathan is a beneficiary of the culture of protest. Protest means national awakening. It demonstrates consciousness and revolutionary vitality and spirit of a given society. I’ve heard some spin doctors of the government saying that the nationwide protest is sponsored by opposition politicians who lost election and are trying to undermine the government. Well, those who are saying such are people very ignorant of the workings of a democracy. In fact, in an ideal setting it’s even the opposition card carrying politicians who should lead the protest. And it’s legitimate for them to even undermine the government using all peaceful means. Winning elections is not a blank cheque to do as you want. In the course of my struggle, I’ve been to many prisons, police cells, SSS cells, military cells. I’ve worn handcuffs and leg chains. How can people like me be intimidated?

The President said even with the N97 new pump price of petrol, the government will still review the price upward in line with its deregulation policy of the petroleum sector. What do you think is the way forward for the masses?

President Goodluck should learn from what is happening in the Arab world. In every situation it’s the people who will always triumph at the end. Technocrats told him to remove subsidy and go to sleep but the masses have kept him awake. Most of the president’s men and women are so disconnected from the realities and plight of our people. The comfort and allure of public office and their obsession with capitalism have made them only to view the world from index, templates and ratings by such contraptions like Fitch, standard and poor and all that. If President Ebele is desperate to give his governors more money, he can go and print it and give them but on subsidy we stand. Each time a government in Nigeria wants to raise the pump price of petroleum products, it will come with such deceptive and fraudulent enticement that the proceeds will be used to build schools, hospitals, roads and paradise but in the end it’s all tales. It’s better we have subsidy than share the monies to state governors who will buy houses in Europe, buy shares in banks, build hotels in South Africa and Dubai or Universities in Ghana or private mechanised farms in Nigeria.