Members of civil society
organisation, professional
bodies and other Nigerians
under the aegis of Occupy
Nigeria, on Friday threatened
to continue with the street
protests on Monday should
the government remain
adamant.
The Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria on Wednesday also
indicated its resolve to join in the strike if by Sunday evening the
government had not changed the price of petrol from N141 to
N65 per litre.
The Convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said at
the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park on Friday that the Saturday
and Sunday break was to allow Nigerians the time to get
whatever was essential to helping them continue with the
struggle on Monday.
He said it would afford the government time to meet with the
representatives of labour and Nigerians and revert to the N65.
He said, “We hear that the Federal Government is saying between
N90 and N120 but we say no. We are resolved to continue this
pursuit until our demands are met. We want to state categorically
that it is N65 or nothing. On N65 we stand. We are not out for a
compromise. We will be closing early today to allow our Muslim
brothers to observe the juma’at prayers.
“There will not be protest on Saturday and Sunday, so we are
giving them the benefit of 48 hours to decide on what to do. If by
then there is no change, we will not only occupy Lagos, but Abuja
and all other parts of the country.”
He asked labour to accurately convene the voice of Nigerians to
the government and be wary of reaching any compromise that
would not represent the wishes of the Nigerian people.
A lawyer and leader of the Occupy Nigeria Group, Femi Falana,
however, said that he spoke with the labour leaders after the
meeting on Thursday and they had assured him that they won’t
be compromised.
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