Report on Saturday's Picketting...
Youth Congress
Picketing on Saturday:
To all those who were not there, you missed a good thing. To all those
who were, thanks for coming out.
A brief summary:
Picketing started at around 12:15pm. There were over 25 Nigerians, and
about 3-5 non-Nigerians. Those present represented Nigeria from all
parts of the nation, there were Yorubas, Hausas, Igbos, Binis, and
Ogonis among others. Some came from as far away as the West Coast,
Midwest, Southwest and even Canada . All were armed with placards, some
of which read things like:
Shell drills, Nigeria bleeds , Shell oil is Nigerian Blood , Boycott
Shell , etc. There were also some political ones like Sen. Bola Tinubu
is a disgrace , and Principle over Profit , "Bola Tinubu's Profit is
Ken Saro Wiwa's Blood", etc.
Upon arrival, Mr. Sola Ogunbode, the vice-president of NDM,
General-Secretary of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, and Manager of Sen. Bola Tinubu s
Shell oil Gas station came out to plead with the Picketers to leave. He
claimed among other things that didn t the picketters know that Tinubu
had a family to feed? He also stated that he had nothing against the
picketing, but was against picketing that was done out of spite. This
statement caused someone to tell him that what spite was he talking
about? That afterall, wasn t Ken Saro-Wiwa a Nigerian who paid the
Supreme price, for the sake of Shell Oil s profit, the same profit that
Bola Tinubu and him were direct beneficiaries of? At this point,
Ogunbode went in and called the police. Upon their arrival, he asked
them to make the pickets leave. One of the policemen then said this:
You called us here to do our job, if you want us to do it properly,
please don t interfere, for we know what we are doing , and then
proceeded to merely inform those picketing, not to picket on the
physical premises of the station, but on the sidewalk adjacent to it
(for that was the law). With this, no one had any problems. Finally
Ogubode stormed in frustration. At this point, a Nigerian who was
identified as working for the Nigerian Embassy came to take pictures of
the picketters, shortly after, a Nigerian who was identified as one of
Bola Tinubu's cronies came to do the same. The picketters started
chanting "Tinubu is a disgrace, Ogunbode is a disgrace", "Nigeria is for
all Nigerians". The Tinubu guy jumped into his car (driven by his
accomplice) and sped away.
An interesting exchange occurred between an African American woman and
one of the picketers, she asked why they were picketing, and was told
the reason. She then asked if the station owners knew the reason, and
she was told that indeed they did. She then asked if those working
inside knew the reason? Again, she was told that they did. She was then
also told that to make matters worse, both the owner of the station and
those she saw working in there at that moment were Nigerians too; just
like the picketerss. At this point she said that she now sees how some
of her ancestors were sold into slavery by their own people. Also, a lot
of motorists asked why the picketting, and told, they promised to
boycott Shell oil henceforth.
At around 1:30pm, the picketing moved to the Nigerian embassy on
Massachusetts Ave, the doors were closed, but all the same, picketing
continued, some people inside the premises were peeping out of the
windows. Chants were made like "Abacha must go", "No to Military Rule",
"June 12 is the only way forward", etc. It all ended at around 2:30 pm,
when the bulk of the protesters went their separate ways.
A new dimension has been added to the Nigerian Struggle, for now we are
no longer going to turn a blind eye to alleged "Pro-Democracy"
activists, just because they too shout "Yes to June 12", or "Boycottt
Shell", for we are fighting a fight for the whole of Nigeria, nothing
less, nothing more.
It can be said that it was truly a successful event.
Freedom or Death,
We Shall Triumph.
UDFN-YC
Some more food for thought: Bolaji Aluko's father works for Abacha, he
says his father is a grown man, and is able to make his own decisions,
yet he claims to oppose the very Abacha administeration of which his
father is part and parcel of. Bolaji Aluko's V.P in NDM works for Shell,
he might say he too is a grown man, and is able to make his own
decisions, yet he (Bolaji Aluko) claims to oppose the very same Shell
Oil for their role in Nigeria, of which his Vice-President is part and
parcel of. Let us reflect for a moment, how can you in all honesty run
with the deer and hunt with the fox? Is it truly possible? You decide.
All those who have been vouching for Aluko's integrity, keep it up. For
one day, all the secrets shall be revealed.