Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi, the Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party, has disclosed how the ruling party demonstrated against the PDP government in Lagos in 2012 without facing any opposition from the government. He claimed that the way the current administration handles protests contrasts sharply with this historical tradition.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
He highlighted how the previous government engaged constructively with protesters, eventually leading to a resolution when the NLC and TUC decided to withdraw. He asserted that the Buhari led government should be held accountable for the negative outcomes of the End SARS protest, attributing the chaos to a lack of competence in conflict management. He stated that the current government’s ongoing complaints about protests even before it commence is as a result of inability to manage peaceful protests.
He said in an interview with Channels TV, ”If you are going to blame anybody for the End SARS, blame the government for the outcome of that protest. There was a lack of competence to manage that conflict. When you see people protesting peacefully and you mobilize thugs to infiltrate them and to attack them, what are you asking for? That is an adversarious approach to conflict management. And that is what they are still doing now. They are complaining about the protest when it has not even started.
People say that they want to engage in peaceful protest, why are you stopping them? The APC protested in Lagos in 2012 and the entire Lagos was shutdown, nobody was killed. And nobody obstructed them from venting their frustration on the policies of that government. The Government at that time did all it could to convince the people who were protesting until NLC and TUC decided to pull out before the protest ended.”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>