A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has called for the permanent dismantling of the Lekki toll gates along the Lekki-Epe expressway and Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge in Lagos State.
He said after the dismantling, a monument should be erected in honour of those who reportedly died in the shooting of #EndSARS protesters last Tuesday.
Chief Bode George said this at a press conference in his Ikoyi office in Lagos.
In an address he delivered, the elder statesman condemned the looting and destruction of public properties that trailed the #EndSARS protests in the state, saying his family house was almost touched by the hoodlums but were only resisted by youths of the area.
“When our youths are employed, when obscene pension schemes of immediate Lagos State Governors are scrapped, when everyone is given equal opportunities to exert his God given talents, when the ogre of nepotism and cronyism are removed from our polity, only then we may start the journey towards a national renewal and rebirth,” he said.
“Let me advise that the two Toll gates at Lekki should be dismantled entirely. The Toll gates are now sacred grounds where innocent lives were cut short abruptly. At the Admiralty Circle Toll gate specifically where bullets rained on that black Tuesday 20- 10-2020, a monument should be erected as a permanent memorial to honor the young men and women who stood up in peaceful protests against the ills in our society.
“The protesters were lawyers and doctors. Many were unemployed. There were artistes and musicians. There were Yorubas, Hausas, Ibos and all ethnic stripes that make up the Nigerian federation. There were Muslims, Christians and many various faiths.“Our nation has turned that frightening corner where all conscionable men and women must now choose to stand with the righteous or withdraw into the dark corridor of cowardly little men; unspoken, quiet, huddled in undignified silence.
“I have chosen to talk. I have chosen to identify with the voiceless, the helpless, the trampled, the hapless, the selfless members of the armed forces and the police.
Our system is not working. Our ethos and norms have broken down. The structures of power are hindering merit and excellence. It is this very anomaly which is much pronounced in Lagos state than any other part of our nation that galvanized the ENDSARS protests.”
He also said it is high time for a comprehensive audit of the finances of the State Government by an independent audit firm.
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