Just five months into the year, the Seventh National Assembly has been locked in the firm grip of citizens’ protests. From far and near, citizens have now realised that they can actually stage protests at the National Assembly, the only bastion of democracy where the people find expression for all manner of discontent.

Curiously, and, perhaps, in a bid to gain maximum advantage, the citizens’ protests are usually staged when both chambers are in plenary; days when they are sure that lawmakers would be in full attendance in both chambers. And the gambit has worked, so far.

The first set of protests this year started in February when some recruits, who were unable to scale the rigorous screening exercise of the Army stormed the MOPOL Gate of the National Assembly in protest.

Daily Sun gathered that the ‘rejected’ recruits came straight from camp to lay siege to the entry gate of the National Assembly in protest. Because it was on a Friday, February 22 to be precise, the protest went almost unnoticed, partly because the men comported themselves by staging a sitting protest rather than go on rampage. Neither did they impede movement in and out of the National Assembly on that day.

Quietly, they dispersed as they came. Till date, no one knows whether the leadership of the National Assembly met with them or not; or whether the rejected recruits articulated their grievances in a formal petition.

Not so the next set of protesters. Barely a week after, retrenched staff of the National Identity Management Commission, more than 4,000 strong thronged the National Assembly in protest against what they called indiscriminate retrenchment by their management.

Their contention at that time was that the NIMC management simply sacked staff without recourse to due process on the pretext that all the disengaged staff had no requisite academic qualification to match their responsibilities in the organisation.

But the patience of the staff, who had earlier stormed the National Assembly gates in peaceful protest, bearing leaves and placards, had simply worn thin. They contended that some of them were in the process of acquiring the needed qualifications and their management was in the know of the arrangement. Somewhere along the line, the deal fell through, resulting in the sack of the affected staff.

In one fell swoop, over 4,000 staff were laid off and their replacements employed almost immediately. The only recourse to justice the affected staff knew was the National Assembly. And so, when peaceful protest failed, they simply seized control of the only access they knew; block lawmakers and let them know that some of their constituents had been unjustly treated.

For the first time since citizens’ protest had been staged at the National Assembly, there was complete blockade of human and vehicular movement to and outside the complex. It was an entirely new experience as most National Assembly staff were totally and completely taken unawares.

To gain entry into the National Assembly, staff and allied staff alike had to access the complex through the gate of the offices of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), directly opposite the newly-reconstructed Millennium Park.

For two days, it was hell gaining entry into the National Assembly as the laid-off NIMC staff came fully prepared; cooking, dancing and even sleeping on the bare floor of the road leading into the White House Complex.

For the first time, too, many wondered how the NIMC staff were able to successfully pull off the siege, moreso when there is a battery of security agencies guarding the National Assembly.

Somewhat embarrassed by the seeming take-over of the National Assembly, the leadership had no choice but to engage the leaders of the protesters, through the standing Committees on Employment, Labour and Productivity and Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, where it was decided that they should present their qualifications for verification with a view to ascertaining the genuineness or otherwise of the protest.

The protesters complied. Only for a while though.

On April 25, next to storm the National Assembly were five Delta oil-producing communities, protesting an alleged sale of oil blocks in their area, thereby shutting out indigenes from actively participating in the process.

Just as the NIMC disengaged staff had done previously, these protesters too, took over the National Assembly Complex, impeding, again, human and vehicular movement.

It was gathered that, unlike the peaceful take-over done by the aggrieved NIMC staff, this set of protesters forcefully gained entry the night before, armed with small and light weapons and simply took over the complex.

They stayed the entire night only to unveil themselves the following morning. Just as their predecessors, this set of protesters also came on a day of plenary. As before, the National Assembly leadership mandated chairmen of three standing committees to jaw-jaw with them and they agreed to a round-table discussion, only if the top management of the Petroleum Resources Ministry and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are in attendance.

The Senator Emmanuel Paulker-led Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee was given the mandate to investigate their claims. The committee swung into action and called all the affected parties to a meeting scheduled for May 2.

More drama was to play out when five oil-producing communities which protested NNPC’s alleged transfer of four oil blocks to four companies failed to defend the allegations before the Senate. They simply refused to show up.

Rather than show up to defend the allegations, the communities detailed an elaborate itinerary taking them out of Abuja and even Nigeria on the date of the meeting.

They chose to reply the Senate committee through their legal adviser, Emmanuel O. Uti (Esq) who demanded a new date for the meeting, eleven days after their engagements would have been over.

In an April 29 letter addressed to the committee, the communities pointedly asked the Senate to postpone hearing on the said petition.

The letter reads: “We act as representatives of the Delta State Oil Producing (OML) Communities. We are in receipt of your committee’s invitation to our members with respect to the hearing of our petition against the recent allocation of Oil Mining Licences (OML) in our communities.

“From your said invitation letter, the hearing is fixed for Thursday, May 2.

“However, arising from the 26th Coronation Anniversary of the Olu of Warri, fixed for 2nd to 5th May, 2013, wherein several of our members are palace chiefs and are part of the Anniversary Organisation Committee and also, the majority of our members shall be attending the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in the United States of America, which is scheduled for 6th-9th May, 2013.

“We humbly request that a new date be rescheduled, to enable our members be part of the coronation anniversary and attend the OTC conference.

“We suggest any of these dates: 20th, 21st and 22nd May, 2013, subject to the overriding convenience of the honourable committee.” The group has not shown up in the Senate for the meeting.

Curiously, however, a faction of the same group stormed the National Assembly in protest over the same issue! Unlike the first group, this set of protesters simply waved leaves at the Mopol Gate and read out their demands to newsmen.

Leader of the Niger Delta Youths Oil-Producing Communities, Comrade Larry Sambo made it known that the first group was in the National Assembly for their selfish interests adding that Atlantic Energy Concept Limited is an indigenous company which followed due process before it took operatorship of the oil blocs.

The group equally posited that the NPDC, a subsidiary of NNPC did the right thing by transforming operator-ship of the oil blocks to Atlantic Energy Concept Limited. A part of the statement reads: “If not for anything, the deal supports the local content policy which the oil producing communities have agitated for over the years.

“The Local Content Act, which is a key provision in the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is one of the major reasons why the oil-producing communities have consistently urged the National Assembly to pass this piece of legislation which we believe will mark an unprecedented participation of Nigerians in the petroleum sector.

“We are of the opinion that as long an ijaw man can live in Lagos , a Urhobo or Itsekiri can own a house or business in Lagos or Jos , we wonder why a Yoruba man or whosoever, as the case may be, would not be able to do business in our area. In as much as the interest of the host communities are protected.

“Those at the forefront of the call for the cancellation of the oil blocks are figting for their selfish interests… it is their usual habit of blackmail which is capable of causing disintegration….we have closely monitored the position of those calling for the revocation of the Licenses of the affected blocks, and we have come to a conclusion that these paid agitators within and outside the House of Representatives are at work again.”

On May 7, perhaps, taking a cue from the success, or otherwise, of the series of protests, everybody was stunned when the next protest came from within the National Assembly itself!

Assembled under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN, NASS chapter), the workers staged a peaceful protest demanding payment of their N11 billion outstanding allowances.

The protest, curiously, was staged around the lobby of the White House Complex which houses the chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Again, perhaps, taking a cue from earlier protests, PASAN’s version, too, took place on a sitting day; when both chambers were in full swing of serious legislative businesses.

PASAN’S Chairman, Chris Odo, traced the first demonstration to 2009 when “President Goodluck Jonathan, on October 12, 2009 approved over 52 percent (increase) of the basic salary of workers in the federal civil service.

Rather than National Assembly staff enjoy the package, Odo claimed that staff were denied their rights.

The protesters succeeded in drawing the attention of Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to their plight, with the presentation of 13-point grievances and another 10-point demands which they insisted must be addressed within 21 working days.

Addressing the Senate President, Odo reiterated that there was a need to conduct a public probe into the activities of the National Assembly management, alleging, among others, that it diverted the benefits and funds approved for staff training and capacity-building.

“Today, we, as staff of the National Assembly, are staging this second peaceful demonstration to register our grievances against the management for subjecting us, the staff of the parliament, to oppression with a view to impoverishing us for their selfish gains.

In his response, Mark described the issues raised by the workers as “grievous” which “must be handled seriously”, adding, “If anybody oppresses the least of the workers among you, he is oppressing me as the President of the Senate.”

Armed with a copy of the PASAN protest, the Senate President, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Assembly, promised to, in consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, address all the issues raised by the workers with an assurance that they would not be denied what was due them.

Exactly two weeks after that, sacked NIMC workers were back at the National Assembly and as they did in February, they succeeded in seizing control of the complex.

Unlike their first coming, this time, the workers were prepared. With large, iron cooking pots, and sleeping mats, and even prayer warriors in tow, for two legislative days, the sacked NIMC staff successfully shut down vehicular entry into National Assembly.

As before, staff had to use alternate routes into the complex; with great discomfort. Visitors and invited guests for one committee assignment or the other were hard hit because without presentation of a valid National Assembly identity card, no one could go past security at the SGF gate. Another alternate route through the Presidential Villa via the Presidential Gate was specifically denied National Assembly staff, even with the presentation of a valid identity card!

Quite coincidentally, two other set of protesters chose that time, too, to storm the National Assembly; those protesting delay in the passage of a bill discriminating against those living with HIV/AIDS; protesters against delay in the passage of the PIB led the National Association of Polytechnic Students. It was a lethal combination which succeeded in paralysing activities in the National Assembly for that day.

A day after the sacked NIMC staff vacated the National Assembly, Chairman of the Employment, Labour and Productivity, Senator Wilson Asinobi Ake submitted a report on their plight to the Senate for consideration.

Suddenly, citizens have woken up to the power in their hands; that they can march on the National Assembly and demand justice or redress, as the case may be; after all, the National Assembly is an assemblage of their congregated interests: as their representatives, they must not only be seen to listen to them, the legislators must conclusively address any grievance of complaint brought to the bastion of democracy.

For now, under the leadership of Senator David Mark, this National Assembly is living up to that billing; that protesters are welcome.