By Sunny Awhefeada

Nigerian rulers sowed the wind and they reaped the whirlwind in the October youth uprising. Although, the October incident made no pretence to being like the October 1917 Revolution in Russia, the Nigerian case will certainly alter the curve of our national evolution. Certain assumptions, perceptions and noxious acts are bound to give way for good. Nobody would pout and describe Nigerian youths as lazy henceforth. I doubt if the ruling class and their goons would test the will of the youth as they were wont to do hitherto. A new order of things is bound to follow and the tentative steps to freedoms and respect for the rule of law and upholding of human rights might have begun. Nigeria might not be the same again. The nation shall someday look back and recount the events of this moment and pay due homage to those patriots who carried the banner of freedom aloft sixty years after independence from Britain. Yes, independence didn’t give Nigerians freedom. It merely invented Nigeria’s own Praetorian guards who brutalized the citizenry.

The #ENDSARS protests not only touched at the very soul of “the trouble with Nigeria”, it also exposed the colossal failure of governments at all levels. The incident which sparked off the protest was not a new phenomenon. It was something that was happening every minute in Nigeria. The Nigeria Police harass, extort, blackmail, abduct and kill citizens at will. Everybody in authority knew, but nobody wanted to do anything. Then the youths said enough was enough. The Police have stolen enough for the owner not to notice. Their cup was full. And the youths did something. They proclaimed #ENDSARS. And who would have believed that what became a global movement would begin in Ughelli of all places courtesy of a video recording by Citizen Nicholas Makolomi. I hope our historians will remember him.

The original intention of the #ENDSARS protesters was to engage in peaceful civil disobedience in pressing their demand for a reformed police that will abide by the tenets of policing. The protest did go on peacefully until government fumbled by deploying unorthodox means in disrupting the peaceful rally.

At the Lekki tollgate, Africa’s largest army was unleashed on unarmed youths who not only sang the nation’s anthem, but held the flag over their heads. There were also video recordings of thugs in government vehicles apparently sponsored to attack the protesters. These acts of barbarism could only happen in Nigeria. What followed was widespread looting and vandalism.


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