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Chimamanda Adichie, Soyinka on the #EndSARS protests, The soundtrack to Nigeria’s reality– the best Nigerian articles of the week

Each week here at YNaija, we round up the best Nigerian writing on the internet, highlighting the stories, profiles, interviews and in-depth reporting that rise above the daily churn.

Here are the ones that caught our attention:

 

Nigeria is murdering its citizens – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

SARS officers once arrested my cousin at a beer parlor because he arrived driving a Mercedes. They accused him of being an armed robber, ignored the work ID cards he showed them, took him to a station where they threatened to photograph him next to a gun and claim he was a robber, unless he paid them a large sum of money. My cousin is one of the fortunate few who could pay an amount large enough for SARS, and who was released. He is not one of the many tortured, or the many disappeared, like Chijioke Iloanya.


Déjà Vu: In tragic vein  | #ENDSARS – Wole Soyinka

I resumed my trip to Abeokuta at 6 am this morning as scheduled, again negotiating road-blocks, this time somewhere between twelve and fifteen, all distinguished by an implacable state of rage. It was in stark contrast to the inclusivity of the protesting ‘family of common cause’ of earlier days. All inherent beauty of instant bonding and solidarity evaporated. At the block just before the Lagos Secretariat, the protesters proved the most recalcitrant. In the end, they exacted from me just the one offering to the rites of passage – I could sense it coming: I had to come down from the car and address them. I did. Little did they know what was churning in my mind: This is not real. This is Back to Abacha – in grotesque replay!


DJ Switch shares her account of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre – Dennis Ade Peter

Shortly after recorded videos of the vicious attacks began to spread on social media, we were getting real-time updates through an Instagram Livestream by DJ/artist, DJ Switch. Pulling in over 150 thousand viewers from all over the world, we witnessed the extremely hostile environment the army had effected, and even got to watch the tragic passing of a protester from a gunshot wound—the army allegedly kept ambulances from getting to the grounds until over two hours after they attacked.


The soundtrack of Nigeria reality has not changed for years – Damilola Animashaun

Now, having lived through the most politically tumultuous time I’ve experienced as a conscious adult, both songs have found new meaning. If the past few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that Nigerians can put their blood, sweat and tears into something to achieve a common good, and still get no results. Nigerian societal beliefs and codes are built to bend you into shape, punish anyone who won’t take that shape and the Nigerian government has shown us through their reaction to the protests that they are the enforcers of these beliefs. Young Nigerians took to the streets on the 8th Of October to protest for the police to stop killing innocent citizens unjustly, and instead, the response from the Police Force even more killings with absolutely no one held accountable.


A golden opportunity and lives wasted by the Nigerian government– Oluwamayowa Idowu

Yesterday, when Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the sugar baby Governor of Lagos State announced a statewide curfew to commence at 4 pm with the threat “Nobody, except essential service providers and first responders must be found on the streets,” the game was clear. The government who has shown a lack of creativity in responding to the protests was seeking to legitimize their use of the military: a force it has taken pleasure in weaponizing. After announcing the curfew, at short notice at a time when the protests have limited economic activity, the government deployed its agents to remove the surveillance cameras that surround the toll gate.

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