Daniel Kanu
This is, indeed, not the best of times for Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. And the reason is simple. His actions and inactions in respect of his government’s approach in managing the #EndSARS protest in Lagos State have left a sore on his hands. Indeed, the shooting of innocent protesters by soldiers at the Lekki tollgate, in the eyes of many, has left little to be desired about his leadership credential that hitherto was on the rise.
Protesters have been carrying out peaceful demonstrations in the Centre of Excellence like elsewhere in the country, calling for the scrap of the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police over their high-handedness and extra-judicial killings across the country. The protest started on October 8.
The protests had spread from Lagos to Oyo, Osun, Edo, Ekiti, Abuja, Delta, Imo, Abia, Kaduna, Plateau, and to other states of the federation, and were largely peaceful until last Tuesday when soldiers stirred the hornets’ nest at Lekki tollgate. Since then, Nigerians and the international community have continued to express disgust and condemnation in the handling of the incident in Lagos, seen as a global tribe of mini-Nigeria.
There is no doubt that Sanwo-Olu was on top of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, given his proactive response in handling it, which also attracted a lot of accolades to him, both locally and internationally.
But, all that admiration and praises, sadly enough, are now ebbing as he has been taken low by simple stroke of avoidable ill-applied decisions over the protest in his state, which led to the shedding of innocent blood and destruction of property.
Many believe that the untimely response of his government in terms of the management of the genuine concerns and agitations of the protesters and living in denial to the death of some of the protesting youths at the Lekki tollgate are very much disappointing.
To the consternation of most Lagosians, Sanwo-Olu had confirmed that only one of the injured victims in the Tuesday Lekki Toll Plaza shootings died in Reddington hospital.
This was made known in his series of tweets on Wednesday shortly after he had said in a state-wide broadcast that no life was lost in the Tuesday attack.
He tweeted: “Information reaching us now is that a life was lost at Reddington Hospital due to blunt force trauma to the head. It is an unfortunate and very sad loss. This is an isolated case. We are still investigating if he was a protester”.
During his briefing earlier on Wednesday, he said: “Three of the injured protesters have been discharged, while some are in the hospital. There is no record of any fatalities.”
According to him, two critically wounded victims had been operated on and were in stable condition while others with “mild to moderate” cases are still receiving treatments at various hospitals in the area.
Sanwo-Olu had after the black Tuesday incident on a television interview revealed his frustrations in trying to manage the protest in Lagos, saying that he made several efforts to get across to President Buhari for help, but failed to get him. Yet not many believed in his explanations on what transpired at the Lekki tollgate as they say he still has some questions to answer.
Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, told Sunday Sun that the governor is being economical with the truth by telling Lagosians that only one death was recorded.
He frowned at Sanwo-Olu’s denial of deaths in his public broadcast, cautioning that attempts to deceive Nigerians were capable of further incensing the already embittered public, especially those who have lost their loved ones in the last one week, and casting doubts about anything meaningful coming out from the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the state government.
He reminded the Federal and Lagos State governments that the right to protest, which accompanies freedom of expression is guaranteed under Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution hence the government was counteracting the laws it is supposed to guard.
Opinion analysts believe that the youths would have discontinued their street protests if the government had constructively engaged them in finding solutions or perhaps, properly addressing the issues they raised on time without unnecessary delays, following their insensitivity to the situation.
“Granted that government has the obligation to protect lives and property as well as the rights of citizens to go about their daily businesses, it is also within the democratic rights and civil liberties of the people to protest as long as the protest is not violent. The Lekki tollgate protest was peaceful by every standard and only went violent when the soldiers opened fire on them,” Dr. Benard Richard, a Lekki resident, told Sunday Sun.
However, a Lagos-based lawyer who pleaded anonymity rose in defence of Sanwo-Olu as he argued that nobody should blame him as no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the military.
Sanwo-Olu, 55, was born on June 25, 1965. He was announced the governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after contesting and winning the gubernatorial primaries of the party against incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, in October 2018.
He is a graduate of the University of Lagos, as well as the London Business School, Lagos Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Before his gubernatorial ambition, he was the Managing Director/CEO of Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC).