Kayode Fayemi, the former governor of Ekiti, has expressed his perspective on the protests that took place during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan in response to the removal of petrol subsidy. Fayemi shared his views during a keynote address at a national dialogue event held in Abuja to celebrate the 60th birthday of Udenta Udenta, the founding national secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD).
Back on January 1, 2012, President Jonathan's administration announced the removal of the petrol subsidy, which resulted in a significant increase in the pump price of petrol, rising from N65 per litre to N141. This decision triggered widespread protests, known as "Occupy Nigeria," that occurred across the nation. Nigerians living abroad also participated in these protests. After days of demonstrations and negotiations between organized labor and the government, the Jonathan administration eventually reinstated the subsidy, reducing the petrol pump price to N97 per litre.
In a recent interview with TheCable, former President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed the belief that Nigeria should reconsider its democracy. He argued that the liberal form of democracy practiced in Western countries may not be suitable for Nigeria. Fayemi echoed Obasanjo's sentiments and emphasized the need for an alternative political approach, particularly one that incorporates proportional representation.
Fayemi stated, "Today, I read former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s interview in The Cable saying our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it, and I agree with him. We must move from the political alternatives. I think we are almost on a dead end of that. What we need is alternative politics and my own notion of alternative politics is that you can’t have 35 percent of the vote and take 100 percent. It won’t work."
He continued, "We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have won 21 percent of the votes will have 21 percent of the government. Adversary politics bring division and enmity. All political parties in the country agreed and they even put in their manifesto that subsidy must be removed. We all said subsidy must be removed. But we in ACN at the time, in 2012, we know the truth sir, but it is all politics. That is why we must ensure that everybody is a crucial stakeholder by stopping all these. Let the manifesto of PDP, APC, and Labour Party be put on the table and select all those who will pilot the program from all parties."
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