The London Metropolitan Police has granted a permit to Nigerians that are mobilizing to demonstrate against former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE). The former Nigerian leader plans to address students and faculty members of the college regarding the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for which he is a Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
An e-mail sent by a Metropolitan police officer, Gary Smith, to the Nigeria Liberty Forum (NLF), informed the group their application to protest has been granted, thereby setting the stage for a showdown between members of the NLF and LSE authorities. Meanwhile, the LSE authorities have withdrawn press passes previously granted to Nigerian journalists to cover the event. One of the e-mails sighted by Saharareporters states: "Unfortunately LSE has restricted the entry requirements for this event so that entry is open only to LSE staff and students. Therefore we can no longer issue any media tickets for this event. Subject to no technical problems with the recording, a podcast will be available for anyone to listen to 2-3 working days after the event." It would be a second time in the last week that the LSE management has taken extreme measures to prevent members of the public from participating in the event, which has generated unprecedented controversy. LSE, according to the protest organizers, had invited them for a meeting last week to request that they present a "letter of complaint" to Obasanjo on the high table and thereafter walk out of the venue without disrupting the event.
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But Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi, who leads the group, told Saharareporters that the NLF rejected the proposal because it did not meet the acceptable standards of legitimate protest just because a cruel African dictator happens to be in the good books of hypocritical British elite colleges, politicians and intellectuals.
While assuring members of the pubic that the protests will go ahead, he warned that the West should stop practicing double standard towards African dictators, as their acts of hypocrisy are transparent to ordinary Africans. He urged the LSE to disinvite Obasanjo or face a mass showdown that includes politically conscious LSE students who may confront Obasanjo inside the venue.
Meanwhile two groups from the DRC have joined the NLF in denouncing Obasanjo’s reception by the LSE , the two groups, Congolese Resistance Council and the Mbongwana group also issued invitations to their members to protest Obasanjo’s presence at the LSE.
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