OLUDOTUN OSHUNRINADE 
Peace might have returned to Nigeria at the moment, but the wanton destruction of lives and properties following the #ENDSARS protest was least expected by an average Nigerian. A lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Epe Constituency 1, Hon. Abiodun Tobun, speaks extensively on this issue and related matters in this interview with OLUDOTUN OSHUNRINADE. Excerpts…
You were quoted to have said during plenary that no parents had come out to say that their children were attacked in the Lekki shooting of October 20, in Lagos and the proceeding was being streamed live, what do you have to say to that?
I stand to be corrected, I might not be right, but what we saw on the social media and on the television was not a true reflection of what happened on that day. There were no corpses on the floor after the whole incident. Yes, it is wrong for the Federal Government to have drafted the military personnel there, but media reports were not true. The impression was that they were picking the corpses of the victims. I saw the video, the military men were shooting into the air and people asked question why military and not the police. But we were told from informed angle that the protests were against the police and that since it is against them if they are called to come in, it would aggravate the situation, which was why the government brought in the military. However, there was no need for the government to bring in the military. But, I still maintain that what the media portrayed to members of the public was not true; in fact I could not sleep that day. What they did was to arrange photoshop pictured that showed dead bodies on the floor to convince us that those were the people that were killed during the shooting. But if you look at it critically, you would not even see any blood stain on anyone of them. It was very misleading and there was international condemnation that the Nigerian government was killing their people. Let us say things the way they are rather than inciting people against government. If you look at the wanton destruction that followed that report, it is better imagined than experienced. Lagos will spend billions of naira to fix those things, where are we going to start from just because of lies and fake news. That was why I asked the question that where are the parents of the people that were killed. So many people were there, if they had shot people there were too many, their phone cameras would have recorded the incident. If you say several people were killed, at least one or two women would have come out to say that their children were killed in the massacre. There were casualties in others areas and the Governor that said that one person was killed in Lekki did not say that it was through stray bullet. He said he had head laceration and that he must have hit his head on something. With what we saw, nobody was killed in that place and the quantum of destruction that followed the report is not fair at all.
The military men were drafted to the place and they released some shots, don’t you think there could have been collateral damage there?
The government knew what they were doing and I believe that the people should fight for their rights and make the government to bend backwards to do their bidding. It is not by violating the law. You were protesting peacefully and you have made some requests, some were immediate, some were short term and some were long term. The government came out to disband Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)a day or a week programme, it will affect all gamut of the structure and the government has set up machinery to start looking at the reforms. They set up a committee on the salaries and benefits of the Nigeria police. The government of each state has set up commission of inquiry on those that were harassed and brutalized by the police. Some would be punished and some would be set free.
What about the request that they should profile those in the detention of SARS across the country to know those who are innocent and those who are guilty?
Let us be sincere, profiling the people in SARS detention is not easy, we have SARS offices all over the country. That is the essence of setting up the commission of inquiry. Who are the police that have harassed people, members of the panel are independent people, they are not police officers. Members of the public are free to come with reports against police officers that have maltreated their family members and bring evidences against them. The government would prosecute them and if possible jail them. Also, these things cannot be done in one week. You have to verify them, some of them have been detained and the government has their records as they have been indicted. I feel that they should have listened when the Governor Sanwo-Olu came out to appeal to them. Of course, they are free to protest, but when hoodlums burnt down Orile Iganmu Police Station, they moved to Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government and some other places, then the Governor came out to take action. The Governor went to Abuja, he met the President and some governors met. The Governor later said that let us impose curfew for 24 hours in Lagos State so that they could separate miscreants from the real protesters. It is expected that for that 24 hours the real protesters should move back and allow the government to get the miscreants if their intention was to correct the government. If their intention was to make things right and move the country forward they should have obeyed what the government said. If there is no law or order, then there would be anarchy. When the soldiers got to Alausa, people were abusing them and they did not bulge and once it was 7pm, the people in Alausa dispersed because the curfew had been shifted to start at 9pm instead of 4pm. They left because they were the real protesters and they told their colleagues to leave. But some people insisted that they would not leave. That is mutiny; I might be wrong because once law and order breaks down then something else would happen. I didn’t support the drafting of the military to Lekki, but the real supporters ought to have left the place before then to observe the 24 hours curfew. If they had done that the military would not see them there and they would only see the miscreants. After 24 hours, if something meaningful is not done to your request, then you can regroup after the curfew. Protest is like having one live bullet, once you shoot it you have nothing left. Also, it was wrong that they did not have a leader. In a situation, where you don’t have a leader, the devil would take over the leadership because everyone would do whatever he or she likes.
You noticed that a lot of things happened in the country in the last two weeks and you saw a lot of people scrambling to loot food items. Does that not show that something is wrong in the country?
It’s only a foolish man that would say everything in Nigeria is normal. Things are not normal, there is hunger everywhere. Cost of food items is increasing, everything is going up, but what happened is not the solution. We can build youths to take over in a democratic manner. After all, President Muhammadu Buhari came in despite his age and former President, Goodluck Jonathan, who is younger, was voted out of office. He came on board, so with time, things would take a natural shape. We should not grind the country to a halt because if we scatter this country, which country do you want to govern, if they kill our people, which people do you want to govern. If they ruin our economy, which economy do you want to administer.
Let’s talk about the trust deficit between the government and the masses…
There is a great trust deficit and why, because of military interregnum. There was a time we called a former military head of state, Ibrahim Babangida, Maradona. We called him evil genius, they came on board as they were invited by the civilians through their outcry. The people felt that the civilian governments were not doing well, so they invited the military to take over. If they had not invited the military to take over, we would have built trust overtime. Out of the 60 years of independence, we have been ruled by the military for many years. Also, out of the 21 years of constant democracy from 1999 to date, we have had offshoots of the military for many years. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo was an army general, President Muhammadu Buhari was an army general and same goes for former president of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who was also an army general. So we have had military hegemony. The civilians are just trying to build democratic norms and values. There is no crime in being a military man. We cannot compare ourselves to those, who have had democracy for upward of 250 years. We know how former President Goodluck Jonathan got into office, and he was later voted out.
So, what is your advice to the youth?
The youths have done well, what their fathers and mothers could not achieve they have achieved it. But they should gauge the mood of the society, when they are protesting. When they have spoken and the government is ready to listen to them, they should sit down and talk, it is not by fighting. Even Vietnam War was later settled on a round table. Same goes for the war in Afghanistan and other countries, why go to war when you can jaw jaw. So, let’s dialogue, let us set up committee that can measure the agreed terms.
Do you agree that we need a restructuring in Nigeria?
We need restructuring in all facets of life. There is a difference between restructuring and revolution, there is a difference between restructuring and secession, so what we need is restructuring. I said it on Independence Day that we must practice true democracy and that each state must have its rules and laws and set up its police, revenue base and we should be contributing to the central to make the centre less attractive and make the states strong. That is one of my postulations. We need police reform, ease of doing business, energy sector, transportation sector, telecommunication sector, all these must be looked into.
