By Rotimi Bello
Starangely, what started like a peaceful protest was allowed to metamorphose into a killing spree across the country. This speaks volumes of our leaders’ sluggish response and their poor crises management skill.
Our diversity and lack of unity have been unleashed and made apparent more than ever in our action, reaction and inaction about the protest. The Nigerian youth’s legitimate demands of #ENDSARS ultimately targeted at reform of Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has been mismanaged by the government who is playing ostrich game of hiding its head in the sand pretending that nobody sees its gargantuan body.
Surprisingly, this legitimate demand of #ENDSARS was outrightly rejected by the-so-called Northern Governors and the northern youths wing, forgetting that the struggle against Boko Haram was not localized to a Northern affair but rather was intensified and internationalized by the same articulate Southern youth who sees an infringement in any part of the country as an affront to all irrespective of where, how and when it happens.
Without mincing word, the APC government was a concocted child of necessity foisted on and masquerading as a better alternative to salvage Nigerians from the locust years of PDP misrule and mismanagement. Rather than providing succor, relief, and elation, Nigerians were made to go through pain in all spheres of life.
In April 2011, during his last campaign in Abuja, PMB broke down in tears and wept for Nigeria and Nigerians. The unfolding event and his lame-duck reaction to the crises within his political party and the country at large shows that his emotional tears were nothing but crocodile tears (a tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion) to curry peoples favour to win an election.
Nigeria’s constitution is explicit on who should call out the army to quell the riot or to declare war. The commander-in-chief has the sole authority to do this. Thus, twice in the life span of this administration, the naked force was used. Initially in the 2016 Zaria Massacre of Shiite protesters in which hundreds of Shiite were cold-bloodedly murdered by a military unleashed by the Chief of Army Staff who claimed that the protesters obstructed his vehicular passage and thus must be dealt with.
Then on October 20, 2020, Lekki toll gate attack of unarmed harmless youths who engaged in peaceful protest and sat on the Lekki bridge to vent their anger against police brutality and Federal Government’s lackadaisical attitude towards their plight.
Where is our leaders’ sense of reasoning and wisdom? More than ever, the Lekki attack has emboldened the youth to query the reasons for their existence. The majority of them faced down live bullets in a determined onslaught against soldier shooting. In a trending video, security forces ran away when the protesters surged ahead to attack the soldiers despite their shooting and impending fatality.
This is the same Nigeria military that could not defeat Boko Hram over the last seven years but they have the audacity to open fire on unarmed youths.
In advanced countries, instead of shooting a live bullet, hot-water cannons and rubber bullet are used to displace and repel the errant protesters. A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water to quell the riot. This is a piece of firefighting equipment but mostly used for riot or protest control.
Peaceful protest is a legitimate weapon sanctioned by the United Nations in all nations of the world. It is a means by which citizens express public objection, disapproval, or dissent views towards the actions and activities of their government.
For several weeks, Belarus, Hong Kong, and the U.S have been gripped with a pang of protests for various reasons ranging from election falsification in Belarus; anti extradition amendment bill movement in Hong Kong, and systemic racism against blacks by the U.S police force who killed George Floyd. All these cases cited above were carefully managed to some extent by these aforementioned respective countries.
On a different footing, I saw a disturbing trending video of how security personnel appears to be security agency in Abuja used their official cars to convey hired miscreants to attack peaceful protesters within the Abuja metropolis.
The Northern cabal and PMB supporters have perceived the youth uprising protest as the southern plan to rubbish, bad-mouth and remove one of their own, hence this necessitated the formation of pro-SARS elements who attacked car shops and burn down all the vehicles on the stand. What a great loss to innocent law-abiding citizens who have nothing to do with the protest.
PMB’s unwillingness to address the issue with immediate alacrity has caused these unknown Nigerians the source of their livelihood. The president must show capacity as the Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Addressing the nation after much collateral damage has been done is the height of insensitivity. The presidency is not a work for senile, lame-duck, and indecisive person. Ruminating and being pushed by external influence to address the nation is a great sign of weakness.
No sane government will fiddle and fold its hand pretending that all is well while part of the country, specifically the economic capital (Lagos) i,s on fire. No matter what it takes, sanity must be restored to protect the lives and properties of all Nigerians even if the government has to resort to persuasive means to convince or galvanize leaders of thoughts to appeal and appease the angry youths.
Rotimi S. Bello wrote this piece from Abuja and could be reached via [email protected]