2012 Occupy Nigeria Protest Against Fuel Subsidy Removal Was Mere Politics – Fayemi
Immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said the protest that greeted fuel subsidy removal during former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2012 was mere politics.
Fayemi stated this while presenting his keynote address at a national dialogue organised to celebrate 60th birthday of the founding National Secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD), and Fellow, Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Prof Udenta Udenta in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event was attended by Jonathan, former minister of education in Nigeria, Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka, among others.
On January 1, 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the removal of fuel subsidy, therefore, adjusting the pump price of petrol from N65 per litre to N141 in a move that sparked mass protests, known as ‘Occupy Nigeria’ across major cities of the country.
The price was later adjusted to N97 after more than a week of protests. It was further reduced to N87 in 2015.
Jonathan faced serious backlash from the adjustment in fuel price, especially from leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who were then in different opposition parties, including the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressives Congress, All Nigeria Peoples Party and All Progressive Grand Alliance, protested the plan.
Fayemi while condemning the winners take all’ style of Nigeria’s democracy, said the challenges facing the nation today will cannot be solved unless the country embraces proportional representation where the spoils of elections are shared between contestants.
Fayemi added that the last time Nigeria experience economic development was during Jonathan’s administration
He stated: “Today, I read former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s interview in the cable saying our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it. And I agree with him, we must move from political alternative, I think we are almost on a dead end of that.
“What we need is alternative politics and my own notion of alternative politics is that you can’t have 35 per cent of the vote and take 100 per cent. It won’t work. We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have one 21 per cent of the vote will have 21 per cent of government. Adversaries’ politics bring division and enmity.
“All political parties in the country agreed and they even put in their manifesto that subsidy must be removed. We all said subsidy must be removed. But we in ACN at the time in 2012, we know the truth sir but it is all politics. That is why we must ensure that everybody is a crucial stakeholders by stopping all these. Let manifesto of PDP, APC, Labour Party be put on the table and select all those who will pilot the programme from all parties.”
