Peter Obi of the Labour Party has taken a jab at prominent Nigerians and others who ganged up in protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan when he pushed for fuel subsidy removal in 2012, but are now silent as President Bola Tinubu implements the same policy. 

At the memorial of the late Edwin Clark on Wednesday, Mr Obi described the statesman as one who sacrificed for Nigeria but berated other prominent Nigerians like Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, and others who led the protests that shut down the country over Mr Jonathan’s fuel subsidy removal move more than a decade ago.

“I listened to my brother Mike when you talked about, ‘may the Labour of our heroes’ past not be in vain’. I’m happy that Jonathan is here. But I can tell you their sacrifice is in vain. They have sacrificed for nothing. We were in this country, when people were protesting, when there was no need to protest under Goodluck Jonathan. Where are those protesters? Have they died? Where are they?” Mr Obi said.

Making reference to the historic #OccupyNigeria protest in 2012, Mr Obi said: “Jonathan increased fuel from N87 to N120 and people were protesting in this country. And when it was N900 they weren’t protesting. People protested when $1 was N180, and when it was N1,500 they weren’t protesting. Are they dead?”

The #OccupyNigeria protest broke out in January 2012 in response to Mr Jonathan’s move to scrap fuel subsidy, forcing a reversal of the policy.

Over a decade later, Mr Tinubu—who was a staunch opponent of subsidy removal—announced fuel subsidy removal on May 29, 2023, the day he assumed office as Nigeria’s 16th president. The announcement saw fuel prices skyrocket from N145 to over N1,000, and later drop slightly to N950.

Days later, Mr Tinubu also announced exchange rate unification—a policy that saw the Nigerian naira collapse from N750 to the dollar to over N1,500 to the dollar.

The dual policies of the Tinubu-led government have triggered unprecedented economic hardships, forcing Nigerians to hit the streets in protest.

Though some of the prominent Nigerians who participated in the #OccupyNigeria protests have remained silent, thousands of Nigerians shut down the country in a 10-day protest from August 1–10.