It is worthy of note that since the start of the protests, the Nigerian Police has not taken any initiative other than to harass, shoot at, injure and kill peaceful protesters.
All ‘concessions’ given thus far — disbanding SARS (again!), press releases and addresses to the citizenry, as well as stopping to shoot at protesters have only come AFTER pressure. In the first place, these things should be the bare minimum and matters that should be taken for granted.
It is not surprising then that protests have continued (and will continue) until the Police and the Government make a significant gesture of good faith e.g. immediately arresting and prosecuting police officers culpable in the harassment, killing and unlawful arrest of protesters this past week.
Surprisingly however, without any remarkable good faith gesture, the IG of Police has gone on to create a ‘new’ tactical team — SWAT?!! What?! 😲 This raises serious questions about whether these people even listen to the people they are supposed to be serving at all, or they believe it’s just ‘child’s play’ and some ‘Twitter noisemakers’ making noise, whatever that means.
Members of the rogue outfit that has harassed, terrorised and killed many Nigerians are yet to fully comply (if they have even begun at all) with your order to report to Force HQ and you are already creating another tactical team to ‘fill in the gaps’?! Na wa o!
That #EndSARS is symptomatic of larger issues with Nigeria, its governance and its governors is very true, but the goal and the focus for now has been and should remain clear — #EndSARS #EndSWAT.
Anyone calling for a broader focus without any tangible, measurable gains yet from the current protests just wants to create scope creep and derail the movement. These protests are a landmark moment; other agitations will follow in due cause.
Dialogue, as dirty as the word may sound at this point in time, is inevitable. In the end, we the Nigerian youth, must commit to process. The devil truly is in the detail. We have demanded seats at the table, now qualified, competent, accountable representatives of our interests must take those seats with the fear of God . . . and the people of course 😉.
The gains from making our voices heard loudly must not be lost or wasted by leaving the reform process in the hands of people who benefit from the current system. We should also be ready to make our voices heard again, if they try to sneak in hidden clauses and terms that directly or indirectly maintain the status quo.
In choosing leaders, please let us put ego aside! There will be no standalone hero from this renaissance, but a whole cast of heroes. One here, another there, all playing their parts to see that this baby is born and not miscarried. If anything has been proven from the protests against police brutality and high handedness, it is that we are more than capable of achieving this. Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding of ideas and strategy will work again! But we must commit to the reform process.
I believe we also have to pray (and keep praying) for our leaders as citizens, particularly in these remarkable times that we are in. Some of the decisions that have been taken, not just in recent times, but down the years, leave a lot to be desired. There may be no love lost between the citizens and most of our leaders, but they are our elected representatives and we need them to do their jobs!
Right now, there are about a thousand people in highly placed positions around the country who can make a remarkable difference in this country of millions within a few hours/days IF they choose to. It will require a lot of effort, sacrifice and selflessness; traits that we do not normally associate with political office holders, but things can change and quickly too.
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; he turns it wherever he wishes. (Prov. 21:1 NKJV).
Who are those who advise our leaders? What are their motives? What is the source of their information? Because frankly, they seem to make a lot of unforced errors 🤷♂️.
In summary, let’s all protest, pray, contribute in cash and kind and any other way we can both online and offline. Let us also commit to the process of reforms — not indefinite, vague, promises of reform without timelines o!! That one na better one chance! It (the process of reforms) is the only way we can ensure the gains of our protestations are institutionalised and outlive us.
Personally, I’ve never been more proud to be Nigerian!! I salute the resilience and perseverance of everyone fighting and pushing for a better deal for young Nigerians and indeed, all Nigerians. God bless you all! #EndSARS #EndSWAT #ForANewNigeria
PS: This was published as a series of WhatsApp status posts on 15/10/2020 during the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria.