By Ademola Olowookere

SIR: The Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Nigeria’s independence on October 1 has come and gone. But the bad feelings against the federal government by the majority of the populace who due to lack of understanding of the government, especially over the recent removal of fuel subsidy, which invariably shot up the prices of the commodity and the increase in the electricity tariffs are yet to subside and not ready to go away in a hurry.

In order to be carrying the civil populace along in its public policy implementation, the federal government should educate and sensitize the general populace to arouse their sense of patriotism, especially the last petroleum subsidy removal policy. This is because, its long run benefits and positive impacts on their lives far outweigh its short run negative impacts.

While the festive mood of the Diamond Jubilee celebration is still in the air,  I plead with President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to also remember those groups, individuals, captain of industries, corporate bodies, industrialists, philanthropists etc. who have in one way or the other have contributed in no small measure to the economic, political and social developments of Nigeria, since 1960 and they are still striving to do more for the economic benefits of Nigeria and the Nigerians.

Looking at it retrospectively, the history and conferment of national honours on deserving Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in various fields of their callings pre-dated the Nigeria’s Independence in 1960. It dates back to the period, when the country was still under the rule of the British colonial imperialism.

To support the above claim, there was such a similar event, when the late Ijebu-Jesa born juju maestro, Isaiah Kehinde Dairo a.k.a I.K Dairo was conferred with the MBE (Member of British Empire) award, by the Queen of England, who was the nominal head of British government then. It was on the occasion of the British Empire Day’s celebration which was being celebrated in all the countries that were under the British rule then.  And Nigeria was among those countries until October 1, 1960 and later 1963, when Nigeria became a republican country. Since then, independence anniversary and the Nigerian National Honours Award have replaced the British Empire Day celebration and its award.

The MBE award conferred on I.K. Dairo that time was greeted with loud ovation and massive jubilation. The reason was that Nigerians believed that, conferring such a High British government’s honour on the recipient showed how highly the colonial authorities have valued the recipient and recognized his musical works.

It is also good and it is still in the right step, if patriotic citizens that have paid their dues and have contributed their quotas to the socio-political-economic development of the country are honoured while they are still alive, instead of conferring on them posthumous awards. If they are honoured in their lifetimes, their spirits as well as those of their children won’t forget the country that recognized and honoured their parents when they were still alive.

The Diamond Jubilee gifts given to teachers by the federal government could still be extended to these patriotic Nigerians, non-indigenous and naturalized Nigerians, who have been contributing financially, through job creation and philanthropism to Nigeria’s development. These group of individuals, corporate bodies, industrialists, philanthropists etc. could still be honoured through the conferment of national awards. And those that have been the beneficiaries of previous award could also be upgraded to show that the federal government and the people of Nigeria too appreciate and recognize their selfless and immense contributions to the economic development of Nigeria.

It is not too late to create avenue/occasion to accommodate such – while still in the mood of the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

• Chief Ademola Olowookere, Ibadan, Oyo State.

By Daniel Whyte

SIR: Nigerian university students have been at home for over about eight months now. First, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and forced higher institutions to shut down in March. The unfortunate unavailability of digital learning systems in several public higher institutions across the country coupled with poor and expensive internet access and inconsistent power supply meant that students had to stay back until it was safe to resume.

But as the country returns to full operations, students of these institutions have had their hopes of resumption dashed by the current disagreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government.  This prolonged stay at home is not only dangerous for millions of students at home but also bad for the country. If the Buhari administration is indeed concerned about the future of this country, then they should fast track the resolution of the ASUU crisis and get the students back to school immediately.

Everyone knows that children of a majority of Nigerian politicians attend foreign schools and those that don’t, attend private institutions in Nigeria. This means that they do not feel the brunt of this unending stay at home. But our politicians cares a bit about the future of this country, they should make frantic efforts to resolve the ASUU strike because if otherwise, the consequences will be grievous.

Worse, the prolonging the resumption could push more students into the dire situation of taking risky and dangerous occupations or even taking up arms. After all, as the agelong saying goes, an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. There are also gender implications to this unnecessary delay in students’ education. Many female students could fall victim of unwanted pregnancies which could, in turn, disrupt their education and also affect their chances of getting good jobs.

The trend of constant disruption in learning is also not good for the students and employability. While some can learn and acquire one or two skills for the duration of their stay at home, the majority are unable to and end up losing interest in education. Their disinterests may, therefore, force them to drop out or look for alternative sources of wealth creation, sometimes illegally. This coupled with the fact that Nigerian universities hardly prepare their students for the labour market is disastrous for Nigeria’s human capital development.

Rather than boast of providing opportunities like N-Power and other menial jobs for Nigerian youths in the name of empowerment, the government needs to focus more on providing an enabling environment for students and youths to thrive. This starts with meeting ASUU’s demands, resolving the strike and ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted learning experience for Nigerian students.

• Daniel Whyte, Twitter @DanWhyte

Labaran Yusuf

SIR: As the dust begins to settle and as peace returns to many cities that have witnessed wanton looting, arson, and lawlessness in the aftermath of the EndSARS protests, there are a lot of lessons to be learned on why a peaceful protest movement against police brutality ended up in deaths and destruction.

To start with, ever since the protests began in early October, I didn’t support the EndSARS protesters call for the scrapping the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) unit of the police force, which has long been accused of harassment, unlawful arrests, extortion, torture and even extrajudicial killings. I instead called for an end to police brutality and the impunity culture that makes it possible for security forces to harass citizens.

My arguments at the time included the ill-timing a unit that fights violent crimes at a time of rising insecurity across the nation. I also pointed to the fact that without a comprehensive overhaul of the entire police force, scrapping SARS will not solve the problems of policing in Nigeria. Others even suggested the idea of reforming the unit and redeploying its members to other areas (like the North) where the population appreciates their efforts due to their effectiveness in fighting crime.

But a lot of the youth, at the time angry and intolerant to opposing views, refused to reason. We were called names, told to shut up, and at times subjected to insults. For them, EndSARS was about the total scrapping of SARS.

Even though I was skeptical that the former army General in Abuja will accept their demands, he did and ordered the Inspector General of Police to scrap the almost three-decades old unit.

Read Also: #EndSARS: Senate suspends budget defense by paramilitary agencies

Subsequently, the EndSARS protestors became emboldened and began coming up with more demands, the noticeable one being the 5-point demand.

The government still trying to appease the demonstrators on the streets caved in and accepted those demands. With this, any sensible person will have backed down and continued the struggle at the negotiating table. But no, celebrities and so-called social media influencers, fearing the cancel culture and enjoying the likes and retweets on social media, continued inciting the youths, telling them not to leave the streets. Those in the diaspora kept sending funds used to sustain the carnival-like street protests that now involved blocking of major highways and facilities, thereby hurting other people’s lives and livelihoods.

At this stage, I sensed danger with the incoherent demands of the EndSARS protestors and increasing calls by those affected by the protests on the government to take decisive action. Instead of tackling the issues head-on, some in the government decided to employ counter-protestors and hired thugs with the hope of disrupting the protests.

The young protestors continued blockading major roads in several cities in the name of protests. Then came the clashes between aggrieved traders and protestors and the mysterious prison breaks. Everybody decided to exploit the protests which had now been infiltrated by hoodlums and many actors with different agendas.

Now that things have calmed down, I hope both the government and protestors have learned some lessons. For the government, they should know they can no longer ignore the cries of the masses for too long – because we’ve already seen what a hungry and angry population could do. While for the youths, they should appreciate the need for organization and leadership for their movement to succeed. This leadership must be a responsible one that could pause and make a compromise and go back to the drawing board if the need be.

• Labaran Yusuf, Jos, Plateau State.

Akin Malaolu

SIR: We have watched with great concern the events related to the civil protest EndSARS of the past two weeks begun by our youths. The protest, which started on a peaceful note against widespread reports of police brutality morphed into a non-violent agitation against general harsh socio-economic realities in the country with the protesters tabling their grievances.

Everything was okay until Tuesday, October 20, when the Lagos State government imposed a curfew on the state. Unfortunately, some armed men in military fatigues arrived at the Lekki tollgate, the epicentre of the protest, to forcefully break up the gathering of youths in the evening. Live gunshots were fired. Some died. Many were injured. By the time the military men retreated, the peaceful protest had taken on a different outlook. Other disgruntled people had taken over what began as a social media-driven campaign with live entertainment to pep up the protesters’ spirit. In no time, commercial properties such as banks, shops, and stores became targets of looters.

The discontent continued the following day, October 21, with police stations, police personnel, and stores being targets of assault. While the stations were torched, many officers were injured, many citizens died. Lagos became enveloped in a climate of fear and insecurity. Nowhere was too sacred to be spared: the courts, government offices, Oba’s palace, and private homes, hospitals, and media houses.   Other townships were not spared as Abuja, Akure, Owerri, Aba, Benin City, Kano, Port Harcourt began to record violent protests.

In all of these, the law enforcement officers put up a feeble resistance. The military casually disclaimed liability for the shooting at the Lekki tollgate, raising questions about whether the shootings were made by rogue elements in the military. The president as the father of all, despite promptings from federal legislators and people of goodwill, maintained an eerie silence until October 22, two days after the conflagration began.

And what did he have to say? Aside subtle threats to critics, the speech lacked empathy. One is worried at the mismanagement of a challenge that should have helped the country to redefine and strengthen its economy and identity. We are pained to admit the poor state of our internal security. It is obvious that our police are not sufficiently equipped to deal with breaches of the law in a modern and scientific manner. Too much attention is still being paid to brute force, which alienates them from the public. While we commend the promises made to reform the police, we hold that the reality of the situation demands a doubling of efforts.

We decry the role played by rogue elements in our security networks—from those who procured touts to break the ranks of civil protesters, to those operating as death squads. We urge the president to take ownership of this challenge and get to the bottom of it to preserve whatever is left of his good reputation.

We decry the burning of two leading media houses, TV News and The Nation, and the harassment of the staff of Lagos Television and Lagos Radio. We note that these organs have been professional in their output and this senseless burning represents an assault on the free flow of information.

We pray for all departed souls of the protest and wish the injured speedy recovery. We urge the president to lead the country in interceding with God for forgiveness on the poor treatment meted out to our youths whose only crime is speaking out to be counted as lovers of democracy and stakeholders in a better Nigeria.

For now, we say, the protests should stop while community engagement begins to fashion a way forward. Nigeria is in stormy weather. It is time for President Muhammadu Buhari to take its future more seriously than he has done to date.

• Akin Malaolu,

Lagos.

Bidemi Nelson

SIR: With many schools gradually re-opening in many regions of the world, learners are faced with the task of adapting to the concept of “new normal” in their learning environments. However, it is not just learners who will be basking in the “Back to School” fever which is reverberating in these Covid-19 times but also teachers and parents, alike. For these stakeholders, their concerns spread across safety compliance, mental health issues, learning losses, overwork and job losses.

Safety compliance is an issue of grave concern, globally. In regions of the world where Covid-19 health requirements are continuously disregarded despite efforts invested in creating awareness, cost of health care continues to mount. This issue can be worsened by the massive influx back to school as the probability of community infections could peak with schools being sources of the infection. The shortage or lack of health personnel, sanitation materials and effective monitoring of schools can equally aggravate health concerns for learners, teachers and parents.

Mental health issues are another source of apprehension. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in anxiety, desperation, depression and stress-related disorders for learners, teachers and parents in different dimensions. For many learners, their experiences of mental health challenges spring from poverty. Food poverty for instance, has been caused by irregular and less feeding due to factors like the stoppage of school feeding programs. Child Rights Abuse is another cause of mental health issues for learners and has been aggravated because of the level of access to qualitative health care, absence of redress or even opportunities to report these crimes. Compounding these mental health challenges for many more learners is the possibility of dropping out of school, suffering irreparable learning losses, being bullied or stigmatized, especially if showing signs of respiratory illness.

For teachers, mental health issues have been related with the loss of income due to the extended closure of schools, health concerns about workplaces with little or no provisions for adequate sanitation and health safety, underlying ill-health problems, infrequent sensitization on Covid-19, unclear school measures to mitigate the spread of infections and the likelihood of minimal involvement of teachers, themselves in these measures, among others. For parents, mental health issues could stem up from the increased possibility of their children being infected with Covid-19 at school and infecting other family members, weak monitoring of schools to ensure necessary compliance to health guidelines, reduced disposable income, job insecurity and poor access to qualitative healthcare.

It is vital that meaningful interventions be made for every educational stakeholder to ensure that schools successfully re-open safely and remain opened. For starters, teachers’ voices should be amplified and recognized. Their input and feedback in the Covid-19 school measures should be sought actively from time to time. Their needs in terms of mental health support, provision of sanitation and health safety materials, work support and job security should be met as much as possible. Teachers should also not be overworked but assisted to delegate some of their multi-faceted responsibilities to capable hands. Training of teachers too is also pertinent. Apart from obvious training needs in areas such as online teaching and improving teaching skills, it is also important to train teachers on social skills needed for fostering a class environment where positive emotions prevail as such emotions are critical to teaching and learning success.

For learners, mental health support is very critical. Schools should apply for the services of counselors to address learners’ needs while also considering teachers and parents in the mix. It is also important to help learners to curb dropout, bullying and stigmatization rates by leveraging face-to-face interactions within and outside classroom settings to improve learning both academically and socially, with teachers as facilitators.

School feeding programs should be improved for learners by incorporating the services of nutritionists and Health Education teachers to regularly sensitize learners and food vendors about healthy eating, proper hand-washing and other salient issues such as the dangers of sharing cutleries. Parents on their part should be educated on how to support schools in their re-opening activities. This can happen by constant engagement between schools and parents via channels like text messages and virtual meetings. Being back to school has never felt better but continued compliance to safety precautions is needed to truly reap the gains of schools finally re-opening.

• Bidemi Nelson, Shield of Innocence Initiative, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Bukola Ajisola

SIR: One of the unintended denouements of the #EndSars protest that morphed from pockets of violence into a free-for-all brigandage culminating in maniacal destruction of both public and private choice assets is the looting of stored or otherwise hoarded Covid-19 relief materials meant as palliatives for the vulnerable Nigerians who came out of the protracted lockdown hapless and with limited choice of survival.

Whilst the jury is out as to the propriety or otherwise of the protest which started on a peaceful note but incubated into indiscriminate road barricades, total lockdown of traffic flow and then an outright hijack by the denizens of brigands, arsonists and looters, there seems to be a glimmer of public forbearance for the looting mob.

The seeming public temperance of otherwise criminal infractions is against the backdrop of the fact that Nigeria has not only flattened COVID-19 curve which makes the stockpiles superfluous and also the timing of the discoveries makes the reason for the stockpile suspicious.

Read Also: Hoodlums hijack sharing of palliatives, plunder items in Ogun

The fact that thousands of COVID-19 relief materials still remain under lock and key months after the lockdown was eased speaks volumes about our welfare system and the lack of empathy across governmental spectrum.

The suspicion that the materials were kept for political patronage is unimpeachable.

The alibi emanating from various state governments and their parastatals on the bureaucratic process of re-bagging and repackaging does not hold water.

Though denying the vulnerable in the society access to the relief materials till this moment is condemnable, this does not seem to justify the looting spree that made an international spectacle of our cherished value system.

So many needy Nigerians were within the range of these looting but were retrained by share integrity and strength of character.

When the chips are down, this strength of character is the defining trait that differentiates the teeming majority of the long-suffering Nigerians from a few hoodlums who unfortunately make perennial international headlines and casts the country in opprobrious nomenclature.

• Bukola Ajisola, bukymany@yahoo.com

By Victor Ikhatalor

SIR: The #ENDSARS orchestra which began with non-violent tunes has metamorphosed and now serenades to macabre tunes of an apocalypse – sorrow, tears and blood! Wanton destruction, pain and death rage on to the morbid fascination of all manner of underground conductors lurking in the shadows!

Worrying indicators point to a multiplicity of veiled conductors who have hijacked the #ENDSARS protests with sinister and ambiguous motives, doing their damnedest to skew the narrative, aligning to whatever their agendas are.

From interference of authority-sponsored mischief makers, to political, ethno-religious destabilization mongers, to shadowy manipulators lurking within the labyrinths of social media – they have sufficiently given fuel to anarchist agendas. What is now getting clearer by the day and abominably so, is the plethora of ratcheted, orchestrated disinformation employed by these cloaked players to suit their particular narratives.

Urgent and critical messages sent through to “organized disbursers” bestriding social media aimed to halt the descent towards anarchy have gone unacknowledged and unheeded – create a handful of bastions as protest bases and desist from sending money and logistics indiscriminately to start bush fires everywhere! These protest zones should be brought to the attention of the authorities while at the same time asking them to provide security. The protest spaces will thus be better coordinated and less susceptible to rogue elements.

With better coordination, there will be a halt to blocking of highways and generally antagonizing other members of the public whose support cannot be taken for granted and whose rights to freedom of movement cannot be infringed. Most importantly, these spaces become a moral bubble making any interference of immediate consequence.

Lekki toll gate was such a bubble and the shootings there has resonated with consequential reverberations across the world, but for days on end more people have been killed and continue to be killed indiscriminately across the country.

One would have thought the essence of the protests was to bring burning issues to the front burner and persevere to see those issues addressed! What is the essence of starting bush fires everywhere and anywhere putting at risk the very people who are in the direst need of succour – opening the door to anarchy!

The man who I consider to be the primus inter pares of the #EndSars advocacy, Segun Awosanya (Segalink), who has over the years created a niche for himself as a foremost advocate for police reforms has been vilified and maligned in a well-oiled campaign of usurpation by emergency activists ensconced in the slinking shadows of social media.

What the agenda is, I don’t know but I have noticed some wariness from some quarters as the realization sinks in that unwillingly people are being misled.

Dubious underground conductors must desist! The flames from the anarchist fires stoked by these conductors will more tellingly ravage the innocents and most vulnerable amongst us, severing them of life, limb and livelihood. Thankfully the “spirit” behind the critical and urgent necessity of #ENDSARS agitations which encapsulates every patriotic Nigerian’s desire to move away from public rot and bad governance cannot be stopped or waylaid. That genie has since left the lamp!

For the political class – majorly constituted by idlers, botchers, rudderless and steeped in orgiastic   cupidity – the bells are tolling! If they have not been sufficiently roused out of their cocooned miasma, then they need look no further than the live optics coming off the streets. They should take heed, as if this fester and a general conflagration ensues – there will be no hiding place for them!

Surmising – days after incidents of  attacks on private and more worrisome, critical public infrastructure became the trend, these destructions continued unabated. This, in a country already seemingly overwhelmed by pervasive insecurity – no clearer writing need be on the wall. Water is wet, yeah, obviously!

The authorities must see their way towards putting a stop to the ongoing binge of slaughter and destruction going on in our streets, but not with the – with immediate effect tone.

Empathy, compassion and understanding will serve much better.  The looming spectre of the African proverb that says: “a child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel it’s warmth” – should be averted from becoming reality.

• Victor Ikhatalor, kingjvic7@gmail.com