Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has cautioned the federal government against using the police or the military to suppress peaceful protests.
The Speaker spoke during the House’s debate on a motion on Nigeria’s democracy, raised by Hon. Setonji David.
He said there was no crime in protesters calling for the splitting of a nation through peaceful agitation.
The lawmaker particularly warned against military deployment to suppress agitations for secession.
Obasa stressed that force would not yield the desired result since it is part of democracy for citizens to speak out about leadership.
He said although 22 years of unbroken civil rule in Nigeria was worth celebrating, there were issues causing tension in the country.
Other Assembly members also corroborates him, advising the federal government to engage agitators in dialogues.
“Those that elected have the right to protest when they think things are not working. The right to protest should not be taken away from them.
“There is no crime in seeking for separate nations within an existing nation. Those representing the people through the ideology of social contract must listen,” Obasa demandeded.
On the ban on open grazing, Obasa charged governors of southern states to stand their ground.
“Having stated their position, they (the governors) should not go to sleep. They should follow it through. We will continue to call for state police and devolution of power,” he stressed.
Obasa, however, hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for signing an executive order granting autonomy to state legislature and judiciary and for honouring the late MKO Abiola with the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day.
The House observed a minute’s silence in honour of Abiola, winner of the 1993 presidential election, and all those who lost their lives in the course of the struggle.