Chibok: Jonathan Is A Product Of Protests, Says Ojudu Senator Babafemi Ojudu represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was at the Unity Fountain, Abuja on Tuesday to protest the ban order by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu on the BringBackOurGirls group and also to show solidarity with the women. He spoke with JOHNCHUKS ONUANYIM Why are you protesting? I am here to support the women of Nigeria who are protesting the abduction of more than 200 girls in Chibok. Yesterday (Monday), I picked up the story that the Police Commissioner in Abuja has banned the protest and I said to myself, this must not be allowed to stand. I was originally scheduled to be in Sokoto this morning to address a conference of top civil servants. I had to call it off to engage in this symbolic action to show solidarity with the women. It is our right to protest, which is guaranteed by the constitution of this country and it is also affirmed by several rulings of the highest court in the land. Nobody, nobody, either a policeman or the president has the right to abridge the inalienable rights of Nigerians to protest. I want to say boldly that Jonathan today is a product of protest. I was here in 2010 three times with Prof. Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare and several other patriotic Nigerians to protest so that the rights of Jonathan as vice president of Nigeria to assume the position of Acting President could be affirmed. We protested. We ensured that the constitution of the country was enforced at that time. Why should he because he is president decide to abridge our rights to protest? Protest is a legitimate action all over the world. Anywhere in the world where there is democracy, protest is a legitimate action and that is exactly why I am protesting. The FCT Commissioner of Police on Monday said he has banned protests at this Unity Fountain, are your daring the police? I am daring the police. I am saying that I am a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I know the law and I know the implications of my actions. I am saying that the constitution of Nigeria which is the ultimate law of Nigeria affirms the right to protest. So, what the man has done is illegal. He has committed an illegality and his illegality must not be allowed to stand. We are not in a dictatorial regime. We are in a democratic regime and we must all behave as democrats. If we do allow this to stand, we are walking into a dictatorship. But it must not be allowed to stand. Nigerians have the right to protest. They have the right to protest things they do not agree with. And they have the right to let the world know that they are not happy with what has happened to those girls. Why should anybody in his right senses say that people should not complain that more than 200 girls have been taken away since all these weeks and somebody would say don’t go and protest? If it had been their own daughters or children, would they have said nobody should protest? Why did Jonathan as vice president in 2010 ask us not to come and protest in Abuja here? They actively encouraged people to come to Abuja here to protest and we protested. It is now the turn of somebody else, you are now saying they cannot protest. I am saying that I have the right under the law like every other Nigerian apart from my being a senator. Every single Nigerian has the right to protest whatever action that has been carried out by the government that they do not agree with. What do you want to say to the women who have been banned from coming to protest at this Unity Fountain? I am saying that they should come back and continue with their protest, that the constitution of Nigeria protects them. If people had chickened out of protests, the blacks in America would not find themselves where they are today. Martin Luther King, Rosa Park, and others were brutalised. They were banned in one way or the other, yet they insisted that they have that inalienable right and that is why they won. If you don’t struggle there will be no victory. And that is why as a Senator, I am leaving my comfort zone to identify with these women. I want to identify with them and want to show that what they are doing so far has been right and has been of pride to many of us Nigerians. For anybody to say they should not protest is very wrong under the law, it is wrong in morality and it is unjust. If you think that they are endangered in any way, yours is to give them protection. If tomorrow you find out that the Senate is endangered, will you ban the Senate? If tomorrow you feel that the presidency is endangered, will you ban the presidency? So, to say you are banning protests because the women are endangered, for me it is wrong, it is illogical and it does not make sense. Only somebody who does not reason well will take such an action against innocent women who are concerned and who are caring and you just say they should leave. Are you saying then that all of us should forget about those girls who are suffering every day? Don’t you think that some people may describe your action as playing to the gallery? I am not playing to the gallery. Was I playing to the gallery in 2010 when I came all the way from Lagos to protest that our constitution must be upheld? I did not know Goodluck Jonathan then. I have never met him but I knew that what was being done by depriving him the right under the law to act as vice president was wrong, and I came all the way from Lagos to protest without anybody sponsoring me. Was I playing to the gallery then? Was I playing to the gallery between 1992 and 1998 when I was arrested 15 times and locked up by the Babangida and Abacha regimes? I spent nine months in jail under Abacha. Was I playing to the gallery then? We are saying that the right thing must be done at all times. Some of us fought for this democracy. Some of us suffered for this democracy. We cannot then sit in our comfort zones and allow people who did nothing then to take us back to the dark ages. Will you join a bigger protest? Yes, I am ready. The Minister of Information Labaran Maku has accused the protesting women of being sponsored by the opposition. What is your take on it? Does anybody need to sponsor this protest? Any decent person would be outraged by the abduction of more than 200 girls. Is APC sponsoring Obama’s wife or all the groups across the world that are protesting today? Are they all members of APC? Any right thinking human being must be outraged and do something about this situation. We must not allow ourselves to be cowed. We must not allow ourselves to be blackmailed. Whether I am APC or no APC. I was not an APC between1992 and 1998 for God’s sake when constantly I was writing and protesting against military regime in Nigeria. Apart from this protest, are you going further to ensure that the ban order is vacated? Of course. I am going to the Senate and I will probably come up with a motion or point of order to call attention to this thing that has happened. It is not right. It is an affront on our constitution. We are a nation under law. We are a democracy for God’s sake. One person who does not know his law, who lacks a sense of outrage when something bad happens cannot take all of us for a ride. This man was in Rivers, he behaved in a way that made them take him out of the place. Now he is here. He is saying that people cannot protest. What are we then going to do? If people are not allowed to protest are they saying they should go and carry guns? What is your message for Mr. President? If it is Mr. President that gave this order, the man should just cast his mind back a few years ago when he was under threat, when his right was being taken away from him and Nigerians came from all over to this Abuja to protest to say that “look this man has the right under our constitution to assume the position of Acting President of Nigeria.” And that is how he got to where he is today. Why should you forget where you are coming from? Sent from my iPad
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 20:50:36 +0000
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