#EndSarz, Birth of the Nigerian Dream
Unless you are hiding under a rock, you must have heard of the Endsars Campaign.
You must have seen Nigerians spamming the comment sections on different social media platforms with an uncompromising resolve #Endsars!
You must have seen people marching on the streets, mostly youth visibly livid, raising placards in unison.
Undeterred at the face of adversity, the police routinely firing tear gas, and water down at protesters and had unprovoked open fire.
Casualties for what is a noble cause are mortally wounded citizens and some suffer the fate of martyrdom.
Rest in peace to JIMOH ISIAQ, EMMANUEL EGBO and the other fallen heroes.
This is the first time in a long time the youth have risen up to a Government that broke the generation before them.
Nowhere is this resilient spirit of youth captured than the picture Aisha Yesufu in hijab, her nose covered with a mask, a bag slung across her shoulder, thrusting her fist in the air — behind her is a group protesting with their fists in the air. They really F**ked with the wrong generation a placard read.
The Special anti robbery squad (SARS) is a faction of the Nigerian police force. But There’s an unrelenting pursuit for the End of SARS, an absolute evisceration.
Why?
The same reasons many Americans clamor for reformation of laws protecting the police for unwarranted search and indiscriminate harassment, mostly to people of color. The same could be said for Nigeria but it’s much worse. It’s terrible and unsightly.
Dressing well is a crime, when you appear posh (a pidgin word for a well dressed person). You make your hair into braids or ponies or a splash of dye on your hair or you wear a ripped denim or a chain hanging from your neck, or an earring.
Mostly importantly, you should never hold an iPhone or have crypto apps on it. Don’t act tech savvy, don’t do anything progressive, it’s a crime.
SARS have no regard for the Law, the same people tasked with protecting citizens, pillage and abuse everyday.
We could make a case for the growing culture of scam. We could blame the youth for buying into fast money culture, blame parenting, societal norms and fault upon fault enough to go round.
How do we stop a spinning wheel? A trade off, proportionally greater even. Some low hanging fruits — Reforms in Education, employment, austerity from top to bottom. I digress.
Do any of the above then you are flagged a Yahoo boy (online scammer), they extort money off citizens and make illicit transfers from your phone. You don’t want to resist them.
There are many horrendous stories, even more convincing are the videos and threads on twitter reporting the incidents.
You could suffer a worse fate, bundled and thrown into a dingy cell, where you defecate and sleep on the pile as pillow. You know that if you are not bailed soon enough, you draw closer to a sealed fate.
The protest which started on twitter picked up steam first in Lagos and spread like wild fire across many states in the southern part of Nigeria.
The uproar from the mostly youth have uncovered many ills with the system. Not that we weren’t aware of these issues, but didn’t understand that it took a great deal of pain and suffering as Madara would say to “wake up to reality.”
Our collective effort forced the hands of the Government to disband SARS in a speech delivered on NTA by the IG of police, Mohammed Adamu.
A victory, first of many but it seems we might have won the battle not the war. This is not the first time this unit was supposedly banned from taking duties outside their scope.
What’s more worrying is the valid concern of a trope we know all to well. Change the name and retain their ex-men.
So it didn’t come as a surprise when the Police IG announced the new SWAT unit to take up the functions of the former SARS group. We know their mode of operation.
A trick that works like charm, change the name from APC and PPO and say it’s a reformed unit and all the sins perpetrated by the former is forgiven.
It has worked before and would still work. But things aren’t as they used to be. The potency has been spammed so much for the youth to trust the Government.
Why should they celebrate a country that hasn’t done anything for us?
I share the same concern but I believe giving up on the country is not the best option, better put — not an option.
The current system may have failed but I believe in a better Nigeria.
The same Government presided by a man that hasn’t addressed the nation to calm the unrest.
The same Government that had promised us N1 to $1. They haven’t stayed true to their words before or have ever, why believe them now?
The country is at a terrible state, far worse we’ve witnessed from previous administration. In the grand scheme of things, it’s goes from bad to worse in Nigeria.
We want reforms not just on paper. The type where the police force is rehabilitated and recruitment are executed with the highest scrutiny. Where the police are picked based on tenacity, competence and test of sound character.
Elderly people refer to millennials as the phone pressing generation that care little for politics or public affairs.
So the thought of rising against a Government which sees us unfit to rule is a reality even doctor strange wouldn’t have seen. Not in a million multi-verse.
We are beginning build a collective will, there’s still a long way for youth to finally reclaim our place in society, but this is a good start.
At the announcement of the disbandment of SARS, I tweeted;
Should the protests end or the perfect opportunity to demand for other basic rights, say unencumbered education. Like the Government and ASUU resolving their issues once and for all. We could relent with this victory or press clutch for another home run and then another?
It’s a consensus among Nigerians that we are the most adaptable people on earth. We live through pain and still wear a smile. Obstacles we jump and pass, the Naija spirit is unbreakable. A blessing and a curse.
This has spurned a slogan in pidgin “ if you fit make am here, you go make am anywhere”
Our success as a group was never in question, even amidst stereotypes of cunning associated to our name, many Nigerians have climbed the highest societal ladder in diverse fields across the world.
The recent protests have shown a flaw is our spirit, it’s shown a big part of the jig saw puzzle that has been missing. Now, we are beginning to see the full picture of the ideal specimen — Smart, Hardworking, unrelenting, and disagreeable. That, to me, is the true Naija spirit.
The woes of the country has made for a makeshift Nigerian dream — which is to migrate out of the country in search of greener pastures and pray for Nigeria from there.
But a new mandate is beginning to take shape, we are knitting a tapestry of a new country where citizens are judged based on the content of their character.
And to create a reality where 24/7 electricity is the norm and we don’t have to shout Up Nepa when the light comes on.
It’s clear that we can’t wave a magic wand and have all our problems fixed. Hopefully, our victory to #ENDSARS is the first of many, and through our collective will, create what will be the new Nigerian dream.
