Hunger Protest: Build Legitimacy Around Issues Raised – Ugolor Urges Protesters

By Simeon OSAJIE

A human rights and Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor has called for the harnessing of the peoples power as demonstrated in the ongoing “Hunger Protest” to build legitimacy around the issues that gave rise to the protest and build a base for action to advance the issues, pointing out that the protest should not be seen as an end in itself but must be seen as means to an end, which is the welfare of the people.

Ugolor who was speaking with journalists in Benin City after “Day One” of the protest assured that he will be collaborating with members of local and international community to see that the protest doesn’t end up as a one off thing, but put mechanisms in place to build legitimacy around the issues that have been raised.

The environment and economic justice activist tasked the protesters and campaigners on ensuring that politicians don’t take advantage of the protest to advance their narrow interests as they did with the EndSARS and other previous protests that were organised by human rights activists in the past.

“The citizens’ movement must build a nexus in translating this power, the people’s power that they have to pursue policies that will advance their grievances particularly job creation, the issue of economic justice, all the issues that border on the plight of the people. But if they stop at just protest and they don’t put in place strategies on how to harness the people’s power to build a base for action to advance the issues, I fear we will probably not achieve the goal of the protest. We’ll be working closely with local and international communities to see that this does not end as a one off thing, after the protest, how do we begin to build legitimacy around the issues that have been raised?”

“The lessons drawn from #EndSARS and other protests in the country is that politicians take advantage of it to advance their narrow interest. So, we the people that are campaigning and protesting should have a political strategy on how to translate our grievances into reality and for that to happen in a democratic setting like Nigeria, either we engage the political parties, because its only through the political parties you can be elected into parliament, elected as a Governor or Local Government Chairman”.

While condemning the government’s initial efforts to scuttle the protest, Ugolor noted that it has provided the citizens the opportunity to express their grievances against government policies that are inimical to their wellbeing and praised President Bola Tinubu for reversing the earlier stand of the hawks in his government to demonise the protest adding that government has a lot to gain from the protest as it will ensure it doesn’t become a victim of the culture of not allowing the citizens to express themselves.

“This protest has provided the masses, the citizens the opportunity to express their grievances against government policies that have not helped them. Once you take protest away from any democratic society, what you have is autocratic government, that’s not democracy. That’s why every attempt made by the establishment to demonise the protest was unacceptable and in the long run it is not in the interest of government.

“If government will not allow the citizens to have the capacity to mobilise to resist any policy that undermine their rights to development, the government will on the long run be a victim of such a culture of not allowing the citizens to express themselves.

“I’ll give you an example, like what has happened in our university campuses. In those days when there were student union government and they allowed them to elect student leaders to represent the students, you saw how vibrant the youth movement and NANS were across the country, but when the university establishment decided to hijack these students’ voice, you can see what’s happening to the universities across the country. So, it is in the interest of government to allow dissenting voices.

“Am particularly concerned that like our president, President Bola Tinubu who we cannot deny the fact that he has paid his price as a pro-democracy activist, as a major supporter of the NADECO movement, and he will not support the protest? I don’t quite believe. That’s why am happy about  their reversal to allow the protest to go ahead even though they have now resort to court to restrict how the protest should go. I thank the president for having a rethink and also to allow the citizens to express themselves”.