Fellow compatriots, the last time a letter went out in our name it had over 2.5 million hits. In essence, we have become a voice that cannot be ignored, we have become the people’s voice hence this new letter. We know you will see this.
First we have to say we are proud of those of you who defied the age long history of the Nigerian adaptability spirit. From Ghana to London, from Brussels to New York, from the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos to Freedom Square in Kano, From Ibadan to Benin to Ikoyi, to Abuja and Kaduna and indeed all the parts of the world Nigerians are domiciled we have seen you all come out to march, to protest and to defend your dignity. We are proud of you. You are the reason a new surge of pride welled in us this past few days. This letter is not about praises because that can wait, it is about the way forward. If you still think this is not the time to demand justice and real transformation in Nigeria it is time to stop reading this…
We have been duly briefed by our news source about yesterday’s meeting between Labour and the Federal Government. We are shocked and appalled by the short-sightedness of the Nigerian government. Even ordinary babies are aware these protests are beyond the fuel subsidy or tax depending on who you want to quote. Do they need a security report to inform them that this is a quest by Nigerians to right the wrongs of governance altogether? It is on that note that it becomes critical for us to inform government and indeed Labour that the earlier they understand the whole issues holistically the better.
Are they deaf? If they are, are they blind? Can they not hear and see that this is beyond the fight for N65/litre? This is also essentially about the cost of governance. We have said and we will say again: The salaries and allowances of all public office holders must be cut by at least 70 per cent before any discussion on the way forward can be said to be the way forward. The earlier the government carries other stakeholders along on this front the better for our democracy and our country. To assume that our brothers that have so been killed in the struggle died so that fuel prices can be reverted to N65/litre is the least level of knowledge and indeed a sad one. They died for justice. They died because they were tired of the injustice of our political system. They died because we as a people have been taken for a ride like camels for donkey years and this generation is not ready to be ridden by wicked politicians who think we only exist to serve them.
Make no mistakes about this, if the government does not begin to right these wrongs as a matter of urgency, the camps of the various militant groups will swell in number. Our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers have tried all the peaceful means of engagement even at the face of bullets and bazookas, if this fails the law of nature says they will engage other means. Blood has been shed already and we are willing to shed ours if that is the only thing that will ensure justice.
To continue to pretend this is solely about fuel subsidy is to continue to live in your chamber of premeditated ignorance. This is beyond fuel subsidy price reversal so when next you meet to discuss it, table all the issues as the days of patching up our tattered national socio-economic fabric are over. Ministers will come on air and run their mouth like tap water. The more they talk the angrier we become. They should desist from saying they feel our pains! Each time they say that all we hear is “you are all stupid” and we know we aren’t. Our brothers and sisters have argued on all media fronts and these same ministers are still in the dark about the real issues. Isn’t that sad in itself that grown men and women can hear but cannot listen to the people they are supposed to be serving? Can you serve me without listening to me? How do you feel my pain if you cannot at least listen to me describe it? To really feel my pains you’d have to wear my shoes and where that is not possible you are morally bound to listen. To not listen and then assume and say “we feel your pains” is to think all of us are babies. There are babies, there are children – like ourselves – and there big children (adults) so stop talking at us from your subsidised offices about feeling our pains.
Again we restate our position: This is beyond a fuel subsidy prices reversal debate, this is well above Labour’s quest, this is about us Nigerians.
ACTION POINTS:
- Announce salaries and allowances cut and start a process that will enforce that before the end of March 2012. Please quantify the amount. Please do not ignore this, we mean business.
- Apologise to Nigerians for treating us all like babies and killing our brothers despite our peaceful stance.
- The obvious one, revert the petrol prices to N65/litre so that we can continue our engagements from where we left it pre-January.
- The National Assembly MUST NOT pass the 2012 budget as it is. We may not be as old as our country but we have seen enough budget documents to state that this is the worst budget in the history of Nigeria since 1914.
PS: DON’T TAKE US FOR A RIDE, WE ARE NOT JOKERS, WE MEAN BUSINESS
#OccupyNigeria Fear died yesterday, we will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail! #OccupyEverywhere
Signed:
Association of Conscious Nigerian Children (ACNC) …consciousness is no respecter of age
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