Besides fighting to put an end to the impunity with which the Nigerian police force operates, the systemic corruption that has impoverished the people is another endemic problem the #EndSARS protesters are seeking to eradicate from the system. No wonder Nigerians went berserk when the most unlikely person volunteered to lead the #EndSARS protest recently.

Twitter went abuzz, Monday evening when Yahaya Bello in an interview gone viral, volunteered to lead. The Nigerian youths, whom the protest centres around, could not help but express their bewilderment on hearing the news.

Watch here:

Yahaya Bello said he wants to be our leader….yahaya Bello oh my people I'm lmfao, governors are coming out to support the struggle now because they know what's coming, werey dey disguise, don't be fooled my people we know them WE NO GET LEADER #EndSARS #EndBadGoveranceInNigeria pic.twitter.com/1UK306b8dB

— ?Joker? #EndSARS (@jeffreyetuss) October 19, 2020

 

For a good reason, the youth have made the protest as civil as possible, shutting out distractions, forms of political undertones and agendas from external forces aimed at hijacking and manipulating the protest for personal gains.

The driving force behind the protest has been nothing other than pure rage over years of oppression from the powers that be, an insatiable desire for justice and a strong resolve to fix the endemic rot in the system against all odds- all with one voice and devoid of any form of unwanted leadership.

No wonder when the likes of Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalink and Omoyele Sowore, had tried to assume leadership roles in the ongoing #EndSARS protest, they had quickly fallen out with the protesters. Their years of ‘experience’ did not stop this from happening because their ideologies seemed to clash with that of the movement. Nigerians continued to reiterate that the protests had no leader and it wasn’t open to change no matter the years of experience wielded.

One would think that sent a signal to anyone with a hero-complex to kill any dream of becoming the leader of the protest. Imagine the surprise when the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, whose performance in office is nothing near stellar, declared he was ready to lead the protests.

For someone who is perceived as part of the endemic corruption the youth are fighting against, volunteering to lead the #EndSARS movement is nothing short of a mockery of the youth’s struggle. They wasted no time in pointing out all the reasons why his words were comedic, and he was joker for even thinking of being a part of the movement.

I used to think Bovi was the funniest comedian in Nigeria until today when I saw the video of Yahaya Bello volunteering to lead the #EndSARS protest. #EndSARSImmediately

— KANNY? #EndSARS (@o_kanyy) October 19, 2020

The level of mismanagement of funds that have allegedly gone into some white “elephant projects” in Bello’s administration is quite similar to what goes on at the upper echelons of government which has contributed to the rage that led to calls for a total overhauling of the system. 

Yahaya Bello that used N7billion to build canopy isolation centre wants to lead the #EndSARS movement ?

— #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY (@manlikeplumo) October 19, 2020

The governor, and his deputy, Simon Achuba, for instance, allocated to themselves a total of N14million for staging burial ceremonies in the 2019 Appropriation Act of the state, according to reports – even though it was not clearly stated for whose burial the funds were allocated. A whooping N12million was earmarked for the governor for a funeral, while the deputy governor got N2million for the same purpose under the provisions for the state’s Government House. Another interesting provision of N15million was budgeted for the “Hire of Private Houses,” while N70million was provided for donations. And the list goes on. 

In that same 2019, a report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) listed Kogi as the most corrupt state in the country.

How then could he think of volunteering to lead the #EndSARS protest with such a legacy marred with corrupt allegations? The very thing that the youth are fighting to wipe out from the system? 

It’s either of two things; he probably thinks we are joking or he clearly has no idea what the #EndSARS protest is all about.