by Ayodele Ibiyemi
With President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast in the evening of October 22, 2020, it seems that the #EndSARS movement and the agitations against police brutality and the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) have ended. Lagos, the epicentre of the protests is under curfew, protests are banned in Abuja after many protesters were attacked by paid thugs and officers of the Nigerian Army. The event that catalysed the current quiet after the storm is the shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate which is now remembered as the Lekki Massacre.
However, this is only a battle and not the war, and Nigerians must realise that the ruling class should not win this one. Fortunately, they now recognise and are afraid of the power that the Nigerian Youth wield. The government’s hand was forced and they did not win the battle fairly. Nigerian Youth were indeed outgunned, not outnumbered. For the sake of young Nigerian heroes who lost their lives, the fight cannot stop but we must fight fair and not be like those we are fighting.
The first thing to do is to co-opt the urban poor into our movement and let them see that the ruling class is our collective problem. We must prepare for 2023. The 2023 elections are still far away so it gives young Nigerians ample time to strategise and plan to take over power legally. Winning elections require structures, parties and money. It is now obvious that young Nigerians can raise funds and manage critical infrastructure with the work that the Feminist Coalition did during the protests.
The only youth bloc that cooperated with the ruling class in the course of this protests is the urban poor now generally termed as thugs and hoodlums. These people must be engaged and made to feel like they are part of the country.
Also, we must take a leaf from the #EndSARS movement and make demands that we all agree with without giving room for dialogue and infiltration. Now that we understand our power, we must also apply pressure on institutions and structures that exist for accountability and transparency. The work being done by not for profit organisations on voters’ education, transparency, accountability, and other important governance deficits must be intensified. With these, there is hope. This is a marathon and not a sprint. The only error is giving up and it is an error that we must not commit.
Leave a reply