National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has made it clear that public protest is far different from revolution which the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowere espoused and is now being detained by security agents over his attempt to mobilize Nigerians to stage.
Fielding questions from news men today, August 7 after an engagement with President Muhammadu Buhari along with members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Oshiomhole, said that protest ought to be based on specific grievances and demands.
He said that it is strange that after Nigerians have voted, the votes have been counted and Sowore, who contested and lost, turned around to talk about revolution, asking: “what does he want now? That Nigerians must make him the President?
“We all have to be careful. Nobody should talk as if we have another country. We have challenges but somehow we have all resolved as a people that the way and route to power is in the ballot box. Our task as a people is to continue to work to clean up the system so that only Nigerians alone shall determine who govern them at all levels.
“That I believe is a legitimate thing to fight for. But if he wanted overthrow, he wanted a revolution then he should have spared the INEC of putting him on the ballot paper.
“I believe Nigerians have a right to protest; I believe people have a right to contest issues. People have the right to disagree. I have often said that government doesn’t have the right to dictate to people how to protest, but you must state exactly what you want. I ask you to name any country in the world where somebody stands up and says after the election that he contested and lost; now therefore he wants revolution.
“Go and check the dictionary and political meaning of a revolution. If it comes it will be like the Christmas turkey, nobody knows which one will be first slaughtered on Christmas.
“I think we do need to take things seriously. We have serious issues in this country. I have my own reservations about many things but we have submitted to this process and we must work hard to make it work.
“There is no doubt that we have challenges but I don’t think (revolution is the right thing). If you were an American, British, Ghanaian or even a Nigerian, you were about to set up a farm or a factory and you hear that a revolution is in the making, in which country do you here that? You go to any country, including established democracies and say your business is to create revolution.
“Have you monitored what is happening in France; that yellow jacket people, who were organizing those protests? Initially when they were organizing those protests they were asking for labour reforms that President Macron introduced but from there they went into something else. You must have seen on your television how the French authorities dealt with that.
“I think we have to be clear. I am a believer that in the right to protest (which) is a fundamental human right, but it does not include the right to suggest that you want to overthrow a constituted order? No, there is a difference.
“As NLC President, when we were organizing protest; when we had put down the head of the then President after one week protest, I think it was late Gani Fawehinmi that said instead of pushing him out, we raised the head again, and I said our purpose is to defeat a set of anti-people policies that we have seen but recognizing that we are in a democracy and that the president was elected. Our mission was not to remove him from office. There is a difference between the two.
“So you can go and contest election and when you lose you say you want to do revolution. It is not about this president, it is not about APC, it is recognizing that we have challenges; are we prepared to allow none democratic means to effect a change?
“Nobody knows the value of democracy more than you the media because once upon a time two of your colleagues were convicted for allegedly plotting coup with a pen. The accusation was that he was plotting to overthrow a military government with pen. So we have come a long way.
“I am for a right to protest but you must state what you want out of the protest. But if you want a forceful change, then the issue is that we have to look at the laws.”
