Tuface: Don’t close the social space, NIG warns police

The New Independence Group (NIG) has viewed as unfortunate and unhealthy the reported attempt by the Police to stifle the voice of Nigerians who plan a nationwide protest against the current sharp decline in the living conditions of citizens in the last two years.
The protest, being co-ordinated by a Nigerian music star, Innocent Idibia, popularly known as TUFACE, is scheduled for Monday February 6, 2017.
On Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, was quoted as saying:  “This administration will not prevent Nigerians from expressing themselves in peaceful protests, it’s a fundamental right of the people.”
 Before Acting President Yemi Osinbajo weighed in on the side of the protesters, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Jimoh Moshood, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, had huffed and puffed as is traditional by the country’s security helmsmen, citing questionable fears over possible hijack of the exercise by so-called unscrupulous elements.
The NIG, a socio-political think tank, in a statement issued at the weekend by its Convener Professor Akinyemi Onigbinde, lauded the positive disposition of the Acting President to the protest.
 the Police by admitting that the right of the citizens to freedom of expression and peace assembly are
 The group also, however, noted the increasing attempts by some self-styled civil society groups to discredit the planned mass protest, describing the development as the height of hypocrisy, and the lowering of moral standards below which Nigeria must not be allowed to sink.
It noted Section  39. (1) of the 1999 which states: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”
The NIG also cited section 40 of the Constitution which states: “ Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, … for the protection of his interests.”
“Judging from the above provisions of the constitution, which is the grundnorm from which all other laws and authorities derive their powers, the earlier disposition of the Police, and the increasing demonization of expression of alternative viewpoints, are an anathema to democracy,” the NIG stated.
As a democratically-conscious movement, the group called on all well-meaning Nigerians to rise up and speak out against government policies that daily impoverish them, particularly any move that attempts to take away their fundamental right of self-expression through lawful and peaceful protest.
The NIG joined calls for the street but peaceful protest to challenge the status quo ante bellum “and demand better governance from those who took our minds away with vain promise of change that never materialized.”
Quoting from the scriptures, the NIG noted that the present government enjoyed the freedom of speech when it was an opposition political party, the right it enjoyed by embarking on street protests. It therefore wondered why the government, as beneficiary of such political rights, could contemplate abridging it under any guise.
“One of the mistakes we make in life is that we sit around the table nodding in agreement against everything said against us,” the NIG stated.
It urged the Nigerian Police to act within the confines of the constitution by not attempting to stop the lawful protest but provide adequate security for all progress-loving Nigerians that will join in the exercise across the country. No government has the right to close the social space against the right of the people to freely express their views.