Protest Is Fundamental Right; Aisha Yesufu Blasts Peter Obi
A human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, has criticised the former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi for condemning the protests against Goodluck Jonathan during his time as President.
Aisha Yesufu reacted to Peter Obi’s comment regarding the Occupy Nigeria protest of 2012.
It would be recalled that Peter Obi criticised the protests when the fuel pump price increased from ₦87 to ₦120 per litre under Goodluck Jonathan.
Obi made his comments at the memorial lecture and day of tribute for the late Niger Delta leader, Pa Edwin Clark, in Abuja on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
“Where are those who, in 2012/13, protested vigorously when increases in fuel, exchange rate, food, and transport prices were moderate and manageable under President Jonathan?”
“Where are those who called President Jonathan all sorts of names—‘clueless,’ ‘corrupt,’ ‘ineffective,’ and ‘lifeless government’? Where are they now that the prices of everything have increased tenfold?” Obi quipped.
Reacting Yesufu who is a known supporter of Obi said, “First of all, I’m going to start with where Mr. Peter Obi said there was no need to protest during Jonathan’s time. I think that’s a very wrong allusion to have —like there’s no need to protest.”
She continued, “Let’s look at Nigeria, for example, and let’s look at countries in other parts of the world where they are doing very well. People are protesting every day. There’s never a time where there’s no need to protest.”
“And if Mr. Obi thinks he’s gonna get into office and think people will not protest no matter how good he is, then he should drop that.”
“What Peter Obi needs to understand, and what everybody needs to understand, is that at that time, people were protesting against ₦120. The ₦900 of today was in the future. Nobody protests for the future,” she argued.
“If there was any time a protest should have happened, it was during Jonathan,” Yesufu added.
