While the protest against the removal of petroleum subsidy lasted, some prominent Nigerians became controversial with their utterances in the course of the protest. Assistant Editor, Dapo Falade, X-rays some of these personalities, vis-a-vis their political leanings.

THE protest against the recent removal of the petroleum subsidy by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government may have come and gone but the reverberating effects of the protest action is still generating ripples across the polity. Though the protest was called by the organised labour, spearheaded by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the action was unarguably taken over by members of the civil society organisations (represented by some prominent personalities whose views on issues carry weights), students’ bodies and the generality of the Nigerian masses.

 While Nigerians and various groups and organisations still remain divided over the cause and course of the protest and its necessity or otherwise, the actions and utterances of some of the major dramatis personae in the five-day national protest remain a subject of discourse among analysts across the land. Many grievous and, mostly unfounded, allegations were made against Federal Government officials, particularly elected government functionaries in the executive and legislative arms of government, bordering on their involvement in the deep rot permeating the nation’s oil sector.

 While the protest lasted, Nigerians, through the various media and the social media network, including Facebook and Twitter, were daily inundated with the alleged sleazy involvement of many of these prominent public office holders in shady oil deals which had been going for several years. It was at a stage when things appeared to be heading for the worst that the Federal Government, acting on a security report, raised the alarm that there were some forces among the protesters whose sole motive was politically motivated and was beyond a mere protest against fuel subsidy, but was principally aimed at causing anarchy and eventually destabilising the present democratic experiment in the country.

 President Jonathan also went ahead to declare that his administration would not fold its arms and allow any individual or a group of people to work for the disintegration of the country under the guise of protesting against a decision of his government. He said that, based on the military intelligence report at his disposal, anybody found culpable in the act of causing anarchy and distabilisation would be dealt with in accordance with the extant laws of the country.

 The allegation became heightened by the fact that the Abdulwaheed Omar-led NLC and the Peter Esele-led TUC, after a six-day ‘war’, suspended further public protest, even while negotiation and dialogue over the vexed subsidy issue were still ongoing with the Federal Government. Calling for a sit-at-home strike action instead, the two labour leaders said that the decision was based on the same security report, claiming that the aim of the protest was not to take over government but to call the attention of the leaders to the pains and agonies of the people as a result of the increase in the pump price of petrol.

 Though no arrest has been made since the anti-fuel subsidy protest subsided, people and analysts from all quarters alike are not taking the allegation by the president with levity, given the personalities involved in the protest. From Lagos to Abuja, prominent faces involved in the protest included the founder of the Latter Rain Assembly Church and vice-presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 elections, Pastor Tunde Bakare, two former members of the House of Representatives, Honourables Pat Obahiagbon and Dino Melaye, a former presidential aspirant, Professor Pat Utomi, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, a former Minister of Finance, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu and a former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

 Others included Professor Wole Soyinka, Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Mr femi Falana, two prominent constitutional lawyers, Professors Itse Sagay and Ben Nwabueze, Festus Keyamo, a former presidential aspirant in the defunct Second Republic, Dr Tunji Braithwaite, a popular fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde Anifowose (aka K1, the Ultimate) and the spokesman of the General Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr Yinka Odumakin.

 It was said that most of the aforementioned personalities, who mostly formed the bulwark of stringent opposition against the Jonathan administration, latched onto the strike organised by the labour unions to call for a change of government in the garb of ‘good governance’. Operating basically from the Lagos axis, this people, found allies in the civil society organisations (CSO), particularly the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and the Action Aid Nigeria and coalesced into Occupy Nigeria allegedly, to thwart what was hitherto a genuine patriotic intention to fan embers of disunity and discord. While the real motive of most of these personalities and their involvement in the alleged call for a change of government still belong to the realm of conjecture, a peep into their profile and their political affiliations may be of help in unraveling their intentions.

  Tunde Bakare
 As noted earlier, the man of God is the founder and pastor of the Lagos-based Latter Rain Assembly Church. Known for his comments on national issues, Bakare became a controversial figure in the wake of the circumstances surrounding his joining politics, more so, his choice of political party. After several reports condemning the candidacy of General Muhammadu Buhari for the nation’s highest political office, Bakare took many people by surprise when he eventually accepted to be the running-mate of the CPC presidential candidate in the last April elections. Ever since then, the man has been highly vociferous in his condemnation of virtually everything the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government represents. He has remain one of the most vocal critics of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration since its inception, with his party reported to have threatened, shortly before the 2011 elections, to make the country ungovernable should its candidate fail to win the election.

Indeed, the man of God has been in the eye of the storm over his utterances at the peak of the protest that followed the removal of fuel subsidy. For allegedly calling for a change of government, members of his ‘immediate’ family, the SNG, had disowned him, claiming that Bakare was acting and speaking in his own individual capacity. As if that is not enough, Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, over the weekend, called for the arrest and trial the man for his utterances which he (the governor) said amount to reasonable felony. As altruistic as claimed he claimed, many were of the opinion that as a former running-mate to a presidential candidate who was diametrically opposed to Jonathan, he participated in the protest with a deeply entrenched interest.

Patrick Obahiagbon
A member of the sixth House of Representatives, then on the platform of the PDP, Patrick Obahiagbon, now a member of the ACN, has been another major critic of the Jonathan administration. Usually entertaining Nigerians with his out-of-this-world vocabularies, the Edo State-born former federal lawmaker was also at the forefront of the attacks on the present administration, particularly in the wake of the removal of fuel subsidy.

Dino Melaye
Like Obahiagbon, Melaye, who is from Kogi State, was a former PDP lawmaker in the sixth House of Representatives. He attained prominence in the lower chamber of the National Assembly following his infamous face-off with the then House leadership under former Speaker Dimeji Bankole over an alleged financial misappropriation, leading fights and fracas in the House. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the face-off, Melaye who served a suspension along with other members of his ‘dissident’ group had since changed political camp, teaming up with the main opposition party, ACN, to lampoon the present administration at the slightest opportunity available.

Nasir el-Rufai
He became a prominent factor in the polity with his appointment as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and became more relevant when the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration appointed him as the Minster in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In line with the reformation programmes of the Obasanjo administration, el-Rufai embarked upon a fundamental restructuring of Abuja by ordering the demolition of buildings owned by the elite and the super-rich in the federal capital.

The former minister however has turned against his benefactor, Obasanjo, and all that he represents. El-Rufai has become vocal in his criticism of most of the policies of the Obasanjo administration and his successors, the late Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua and President Jonathan. Though not yet confirmed, the former minister has been linked with most of the damning online media publications making serious and grievous allegations against the Jonathan administration. It was therefore not a surprise to many people that El-Rufai, who is the chairman of Renewal committee of the CPC, joined the fray in calling for a change of government, issuing statements that have been considered as being far beyond the issue of subsidy removal.

Pat Utomi
A professor and proprietor of the Lagos Business School, Pat Utomi was the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic mega Party (SDMP) before he eventually announced his withdrawal from the presidential race in the build-up to the 2011 elections. Though a critic off most of the policies of the present administration, he actively participated in the protest but was mild in his condemnation of the president and his cabinet.

Yinka Odumakin
A member of the ‘dissident’ Afenifere Renewal Group (AFG), Yinka Odumakin was also an active participant in the Occupy Nigeria protest against the subsidy removal policy of the Jonathan administration. An unapologetic critic of the present administration, Odumakin was the spokesman of the general Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation. Inadvertently, he was therefore seen as a biased umpire who was also the prominent organiser of the Lagos rally.

Kalu Idika Kalu
A former Minister of Finance in the General Ibrahim Babangida-led military administration, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, was also a prominent face in the Lagos rally organised by the SNG against the removal of fuel subsidy. He too can also be described as a moderate participant in the protest rally but, by virtue of his association with some of those who are morbidly against the Jonathan administration, he can be said that he was actively involved in the call for a change of government.

Wole Soyinka
A professor and the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Wole Soyinka has been one of the most vocal critics of maladministration and misgovernance in the nation’s political history. Though sometimes controversial in his actions and utterances, the renowned literary giant has remained consistent in his pastime, taking the nation’s bad leaders to the cleaners. Vehement in his conviction and highly vocal in expressing his opinions, Soyinka, who often claimed to be apolitical, has always been on the side of those who are opposed to the central government. An active participant in the Lagos rally, the professor of Literature, in the thick of the allegation made against some of his compatriots, came out to deny the postings on the social media networks, Facebook and Twitter, which were ascribed to him, calling for a change of government.

Femi Falana
Like El-Rufai, Melaye, Obahiagbon and Odumakin, Femi Falana, a Lagos-based lawyer and chairman of the West Africa Bar Association (WABA), has not been relenting in criticising and casting aspersions on virtually the policies and administrative style of the Jonathan presidency and the PDP since the inception of the democracy. Falana, a former gubernatorial candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in Ekiti State, Falana was a frontrunner in the anti-fuel subsidy removal protest, was visible, both at the Lagos and Abuja rallies, pouring vitriolic and venoms on the PDP-led administration.

Itse Sagay
A foremost constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay is well known for his stand against some national issues and policies, particularly as being projected by the present administration. Though he has not been known to belong to any of the political parties in existence in the country, Sagay may be said to tilt towards the camp of the ‘progressive’ who see nothing good in the present political arrangement in the polity.

Balarabe Musa
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a former Kaduna State governor in the defunct Second Republic on the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), came into national prominence when the state legislature, dominated by members of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), impeached him in a very controversial circumstance. He thus became the first governor in the country to have his tenure terminated, via impeachment. Since then, the man has consistently been in the progressive camp, championing the cause of good governance. It is then understandable that he was found among the Occupy Nigeria protesters.

 Tunji Braithwaite
A presidential candidate in the 1979 elections on the platform of the Nigerian Advance Party (NAP), Tunji Braithwaite, a medical doctor by profession, identified himself with the downtrodden. While campaigning for the realisation of his presidential ambition, and as a demonstration of his love for the people, he advocated that malaria constituted the greatest threat to human existence. Thus, he said that eradication of mosquitoes would serve as a means to the eradication of poverty among the people. Several years later, the man can only be found in the midst of those people who were campaigning for good governance, typified by the organisers of the protest rally against the fuel subsidy removal.

Festus Keyamo
Festus Keyamo is another Lagos-based lawyer who claimed to be in the struggle for the liberation of the ordinary Nigerians. He came into national prominence following the murder of the nation’s erstwhile number one law officer, Chief Bola Ige, in December 2001. Keyamo, who has since then been seen in the opposing camp, was also an active participant in the protest rally.

However, while the controversies generated over fuel subsidy removal may have had come and gone, the issues raised by the action remain poignant and germane to the national question. This becomes more expedient with the personality of the main organisers of the anti-subsidy removal rally, as well as their utterances and their intentions. These people mean different things to Nigerians; while some see them as the true face of the struggle for a just society where living can be made more meaningful for the common  man, several others regard them as an instrument being used by some higher elements for selfish ends.