14042021 -6 Northern govs link up to fight banditry, terrorism

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18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021
SHOCK and an outpouring of grief
were the immediate responses by
many Nigerians to the death of
Comrade Peter Oluyinka Odumakin,
a democracy advocate, civil society
activist and spokesman for the pan-
Yoruba socio-political organisation,
Afenifere.
blow, a sad loss to the country.
His wife, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, But death has not diminished his
said he died on the night of Friday, relevance as he had variously been
April 2, 2021 at the Intensive Care Unit described by friends and foes alike as
of the Lagos State University Teaching undoubtedly a great patriot and
Hospital, LASUTH, due to nationalist, with many expressing
complications from COVID-19. regret that COVID-19 had unfairly
Since his death was announced, robbed the country of his highly
there has been a torrent of tributes valued contributions and services at a
from different parts of the country. time they are most needed.
From President Muhammadu Buhari An unrepentant critic of a troubled
to former presidents, Olusegun Nigeria and the leadership
Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, to responsible for this sad state of affairs,
various state governors; other Comrade Yinka Odumakin was for
prominent political and opinion many years in the forefront of
leaders across the country, the verdict agitations to correct the many
remains the same: his death is a tragic structural anomalies inherent in the
Yinka Odumakin: A life of critical activism
country, leaving it almost prostrate
and in danger of collapsing on itself.
As a ready mouthpiece of the
Afenifere, he was never shy or afraid
to step on the sensitive toes of those
in authority for failing to respond
appropriately to the many leadership
problems confronting Nigeria.
Until his death, he was a vibrant and
relentless voice on the need to
restructure the country so that it can
find its bearing among the comity of
nations that are developing at a rapid
pace while Nigeria lags behind.
A prolific writer, ace commentator
and critic, Yinka never missed the
opportunity to bare his mind on
sundry issues bordering on politics,
power and the economy.
In the process, he kept government
and public office holders constantly
on their toes, hoping to get them to
do the right things for the country. His
column in Vanguard: “Candid Notes”,
was a must-read every Tuesday, with
his comments sometimes scathing but
in most cases corrective.
His last column in Vanguard was
published on Tuesday March 9, 2021.
For some weeks, he had not sent his
script for publication as he faithfully
did and on time.
Unknown to us and most of his
readers, he had fallen ill from the
dastardly pandemic from which he
eventually succumbed to the cold
hands of death.
He was born 54 years ago at Moro,
Ife North, Osun State. May his soul
rest in peace.
OPINION
Lekki toll plaza episode and the US report
By SAMUEL OMOJOYE
WITH the United States
Department of States report stating
that there is no verifiable evidence on the
reported killings of #EndSARS protesters at
the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20 last year,
many questions arise on the actions that
followed what was unjustifiably described as a
massacre. In its “2020 Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices: Nigeria”, the State
Department stated that accurate information
on fatalities resulting from the shooting was
not available.
According to the report, the #EndSARS
protesters were allowed to proceed unimpeded
in most places. Those charged with “conduct
likely to cause a breach of public peace” were
released within days of their arrest. Though a
few human rights activists, as usual, have come
out to condemn the said report, claiming it did
not represent what actually transpired during
the Lekki protest, they have failed to give any
evidence to support their wild assertion of a
massacre.
Was the massacre claim made to ensure the
destruction of Lagos, with its prime assets as
targets? What were the purveyors of the fake
news targeting? Who are their sponsors and
enablers? Why would they want to destroy the
unity that Lagosians so much cherish? This
writer has always been of the view that the socalled
Lekki ‘massacre’ was carefully hatched
by enemies of the government just to give it a
bad name and unduly overheat the polity.
A massacre? Could there have been a
massacre without blood and bodies? Would
morgues not have been filled with bodies?
Would parents and relations of supposedly
massacred victims not have come out to give
their identities? Now that the United States,
which can be considered as an impartial actor
in the episode, has come out with a report
refuting any claim of a massacre, one would
have expected those with contrary views to
actually come out with empirical facts to
buttress their claim.
Sadly, in their characteristic fashion, they
have failed to apologise publicly for their
indiscretion or deliberate mischief. If the
United States’ report had come out with
findings that endorsed their unproven claim,
they would have termed it as credible. But now
that it disagrees with their spurious stance, it is
nothing but a concoction. Such has always
been the stock-in-trade of our so-called human
rights activists, many of who are mere creations
of the media. Every contrary view to theirs is
always wrong because they erroneously believe
that they have the monopoly of knowledge.
If the US report had come out
with findings that endorsed their
unproven claim, they would
have termed it as credible
Besides, playing to the gallery is part of their
tactics. The role of misinformation in the
Lekki Toll Plaza incident cannot be overemphasised.
After the incident, in the dead of
the night, Lagos State Governor, Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, visited some medical facilities
around the area to see things for
himself. Earlier, the army had tweeted “fake
news” when the social media was awash with
videos of soldiers in an armoured tank,
shooting sporadically in a direction and scores
of videos of bodies with body parts littering the
ground had been spread as victims of the fake
“massacre”.
A certain DJ Switch released several videos,
on LIVE, in which she claimed that soldiers
were killing protesters and that many people
had died and they were trying to remove a
bullet from a victim’s leg. She was relaying
these events, but not showing any footage of
the most important videos (of dead bodies),
soldiers shooting at people, blood on the
ground, the process/procedure when the bullet
was removed and when soldiers were carrying
the bodies, among others.
Her second video showed her talking to a
friend and, all of a sudden, she started running
and asking imaginary people to bend down
and hold their flags. Her friend then said
“daaaamn”, after which he covered his face as
if he had just witnessed something gruesome.
That, no doubt, was mere acting and a bad
one at that. DJ Switch gave an impression that
the army or police were still shooting
protesters at Lekki even in the morning.
Then she did another video where she
apologised for not being online for some time.
She then proceeded to reminisce about the
night and, at that point, started to address the
issue of numbers. It was then the death toll of
over 80 suddenly reduced to 12. She also
claimed that the DJ Switch account which
posted over 80 deaths was a fake account and
not hers.
Experts have analysed that her behaviour
was not commensurate with that of a victim of
trauma and her description of how she carried
and deposited bodies at the feet of soldiers
defies logic. Soldiers opening fire and you
taking bodies to them seem a drama taken too
far; it is highly unlikely. Pictures that were
touted as victims of the Lekki massacre turned
out to be those of people who had died in
separate circumstances - one from a bike
accident and the other a stab wound victim.
Those found in the hospitals who got injured
from Lekki were as a result of stampede, and
the injuries ranged from broken bones, cuts,
bruises and slash wounds. No record of death
as a result of gunshot wounds, but the social
media was awash with people in hospital, who
claimed that they were shot by soldiers at the
toll plaza.
The judicial panel of inquiry instituted by
the Lagos State Government to investigate the
episode has continued to encourage those with
concrete evidence on the Lekki incident to come
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up with such. Among all such judicial
inquiries put in place by state governments
across the federation over the #EndSARS
protest, the Lagos panel, in particular, had
proved promising. In all honesty, the set-up
inspires confidence and proceedings have
never lacked transparency. In fact, the sittings
are televised live. As for those bent on
spreading lies to further pollute the polity, they
must realise that our nation has just endured
a very tough 2020; one whose uncertainties
still cloud our socio-economic structure. The
strain and heavy burden that the COVID-19
pandemic as well as the avoidable destruction
that climaxed the #EndSARS protest have
inflicted on our society will take years to
lighten. For instance, in Lagos alone, analysts
put the estimated economic loss during the
12 days dissent at N700 billion, connoting a
loss of N58 billion daily. This loss was also
accompanied by looting, vandalism and arson
at several shopping malls, public facilities,
police stations and private facilities.
As Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote: “No
man consciously chooses evil because it is evil;
he only mistakes it for the happiness that he
seeks.” Such temptation to devour the society
and interrupt the process of healing is
destructive. We will only be spinning on a wheel
that just goes around and around, eventually
leading to the same problems over and over
again. Let it be acknowledged that there is no
magic formula that will resolve our grievances.
But to tame the storm of our reality and reduce
the intensity of conflict, a social contract must
be forged between citizens and the
government. It is to recognise that there are no
differences that cannot be solved through
dialogue, negotiation and conflict resolution
or that are worth the damage created by the
assumption of injustice. It is to engage in open,
honest, collaborative effort and elicit heartfelt
communications that invite truth and
reconciliation.
•Omojoye , a social commentator, wrote
from Palmgrove, Lagos