Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesman, complained against ChannelsTV on Thursday while appearing as a guest on the station’s Sunrise Daily program after a brutal exchange with another guest, whom he referred to as the station, failed to inform him that he was coming on the program, oyogist.com reports.
Adesina and the second guest, Tope Akinyode, National Chairman of the Revolutionary Lawyers Forum, clashed in the #RevolutionNow protests that took place in various parts of the country on Wednesday.
Akinyode, who participated in the protests, which were disrupted by security forces, said the aim of the demonstrations was to call for good governance, eradication of poverty, an end to insecurity and many other issues.
In his response, however, Adesina described the protests as an irritation and a piece of cake.
She said, “Well, was it really a protest? In my opinion, it seemed like a piece of cake, because protests are by nature spontaneous things, mass things. These are just a few people trying to be funny. As far as I’m concerned, it’s nothing to worry about.”
“A revolution is always a mass thing, not a bunch of kids you saw yesterday (Wednesday) in different parts of the country. I think it was a funny thing to call it a revolutionary protest.
When asked if the government determines the seriousness of a protest just by its size, Adesina responded, “Revolution is something that reverses the normal order. What happened yesterday, would you call it a revolution?
“It was just an irritation, just an irritation, and some people want to cause irritation in the country, and what I mean is that when things boil, they boil because you keep heating them up.”
However, Akinyode made fun of Adesina because, despite her experience as an experienced journalist, she had a superficial understanding of the concept of revolution.
The lawyer said, “We must forgive Mr. Adesina and the Buhari government for everything they say. They don’t understand these things. They are deprived of the basic workings of democracy and the rule of law. They don’t know what protest means, they can’t appreciate it.
“Buhari is a dictator. He does not obey the orders of the court, so he does not know that the Nigerians or the people have the right to protest, which is why Mr. Adesina constantly belittled the Nigerians and said it was child’s play and irritation.
Akinyode said the Buhari government seems destined to fail, so he rejects criticism.
The lawyer wondered why the unarmed protests were attacked by soldiers and police because they demanded good government.
He said, “I am disappointed with Mr. Adesina’s short-sighted definition of the word revolution, especially since he is a journalist who should have a basic knowledge of the English language. The word revolution has many meanings. You can’t give the word a single meaning.”
“For those who have a deficit in the use of the English language, revolution can also mean an improvement, a progress in a system that has a positive and lasting effect.”
“The demands of the protesters are well articulated. They implicate the government in its failures: unemployment, insecurity, non-payment of the 30,000 naira minimum wage and many other things.”
“And when the demonstrators demand the abolition of the present government, which has been formed, this is a constitutionally guaranteed right. The law allows for the removal of any legitimately elected government, and if a government has failed miserably, isn’t it right for it to resign?
However, Adesina, who seemed upset by Akinyode’s answer, opposed Channels Television because he associated him with “such a character”.
He however said that from now on the television station must let him know who he is dealing with the next time he is to be invited to a show.
The President’s spokesman said, “Let me raise this point. The television station should have been ethical and professional enough to tell me that I was going to be with someone and then I could decide whether or not I was going to be.”
“The way this young man talks, if he had the opportunity, I would not want to share a platform with him, because he has a temperament, he is irrational and he does not understand, and I could have decided whether to act with him or not.”
However, Akinyode explained that he is a lawyer and an educated man. “It’s not just how Mr. Adesina sees that I’m a young man. I am a lawyer and I have an understanding too.”
