Indications are rife that the Federal Government is not happy with the Lagos State government on the open ended opportunity being enjoyed by protesters in his state against the removal of fuel subsidy, and had hence queried the governor on the growing confidence of the protesters.
The government handed over the query to the Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, during a closed door meeting it had with organised labour which had in attendance some select governors, including Fashola.
Lagos has been offering a great source of inspiration to anti-subsidy protesters from across the federation, owing to the huge crowd it exhibits on daily basis at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Square at Ojota, Lagos where anti subsidy protest is being held daily since Monday.
The high caliber of eminent Nigerians, who have been attending the rally in Lagos buoyed by the presence of Nollywood actors and actresses, big time Lagos-based musicians, religious leaders, professionals and committed artisans, had made the protests in Lagos tick, causing some shock waves in government circles.
Some presidency officials in a chat with Saturday Tribune disclosed that the need by the government to have words with Fashola on the dimension of protests in Lagos necessitated his enlistment in the select committee of state governors who had dialogue with the organised labour.
Officials of the government at the special meeting with the Labour union leaders had reportedly expressed dismay at the dimension of the anti-fuel subsidy protests in Lagos and hence berated the governor for his inability to temper the tension by refusing members of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) led by Pastor Tunde Bakare the free leverage it has been having all along.
Insiders at the meeting told Saturday Tribune that a well prepared Fashola had harangued the government officials on the manner of handling protests of a huge magnitude, disclosing to them that his government was all along vigilant about every movement of the protesters in Lagos and had devised the means of making them act peacefully.
The Lagos governor, according to reports, was vehement in declaring that democracy forbids any government to clamp down on protesters, a reason the Lagos State government resolved to manage the protests by ensuring security of lives and property, while also discouraging acts of arson and vandalism by protesters.
Fashola reportedly told the officials of government that having provided security cover for protesters and other logistics including ambulances, fire fighting equipment and a constant dialogue with the arrow heads, no one should expect the Lagos protests to degenerate into chaos.
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