By Dayo Sobowale
I confess that I write as it were under the duress of patriotism and as a lover of the Nigerian nation who cannot go to sleep while there is fire on the roof of our fatherland . Nigeria is on fire with the End SARS protests which have been taken over by hoodlums and thugs and which has brought carnage and looting to our major cities and state capitals with the security forces intervening and killing innocent protesters while the hoodlums burn state buildings and cart away government properties in broad day light . One after the other the state governors have reacted in panic and ordered 24 hour curfews which have only exacerbated the looting and insecurity and burning of more police stations . The police are being blamed and asked to maintain law and order while their stations are incinerating and the looters are having a field day after hijacking the protests from the genuine youths many of whom have now paid the supreme price and sacrifice for demanding an end to police brutality in our nation . It is a pathetic situation and I tremble as I write and really I do so with a heavy heart and please bear with me , because honestly , I think Nigeria is on fire .
If it is at all possible let us look at the issues involved dispassionately and unlike the proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand in the hope that we will see our way through to a solution which we should agree at the onset , is to have a return of peace and normality to our roads and cities .So that Nigerians can come out and earn their living as before and not under the uncertainty and paralysis of lock downs and 24 hour curfews by our state governors . Having agreed this , we need to remind our selves of the meaning of government and governance , in our democracy as in any democracy so that we do not slide into the anarchy which the End SARS protests have inadvertently thrust on us most regrettably and so tragically in the last few days . Under the circumstances we shall make observations and offer advice and make comparisons with other nations and their experience with police brutality and protests to obtain justice and make presidents and tyrants follow the path of the rule of law as required in a democracy as our youths have done before it was hijacked from them .
It is important to start with the youths because they are the catalysts of the situation we are in . The youths meant well and they acted within their rights and I am sure they will never have done what the hoodlums who hijacked the protests did so violently and so destructively . But while we concede that it is the prerogative of youths to be impatient they should be told that the hood does not make the monk and an actor quits when the ovation is loudest . When the government kowtowed to their demands and banned SARS so obsequiously they should have applauded themselves and gone home . Instead they interpreted this as a sign of weakness and started organizing discos and parties at our traffic interjections and waylaying commuters and workers going and returning from their daily labour . The youths should know or be told that a revolution or protest is not a tea party or an event management production . With their parties and carnival they cast opprobrium on their lofty and public spirited goal of End SARS . What has entertainment got to do with police brutality and killing of innocent youths ? . Absolutely NOTHING . Our youths should go home now because they should be told , if they do not know as they may not ,that he who runs today lives to fight another day . The moral for them here in the End SARS tragedy is that life has no duplicate . Sam .
In terms of government and governance over this End SARS protests , I take issues with the governors over the imposition of 24 hour curfew . The protest is not a curfew issue but one of opportunity of creation of assurance that government is in control of security of its citizens and their lives and property , both at night and during the day . A 24 hour curfew creates more insecurity and while the fear of the lockdown of the pandemic still persists , with social distancing and masks , the 24 hour curfew can only compound the fear of the pandemic or even aggravate our sense of insecurity the more, when hoodlums use the curfew to attack government properties and burn police stations . It appears the 24 hour curfew is the governors’ hang over from the pandemic lockdowns . The problems are different and the solutions cannot be the same . The essence of governance is to control violence and protect the lives and properties of those who elected the governors , who are the chief security officers of their respective states . That is what governance and democracy is all about . Not asking people to hide and quiver in their homes day and night while hoodlums take to the streets to loot and cause pandemonium in a raging pandemic .
Let us now look at global reactions to the killing of our gallant youths and genuine protesters on the End SARS saga as well as a comparative analysis on this .Of course our government has called for calm which is assuring but not enough . Also the news that the FEC met this week and nothing on the End SARS was discussed is un believable . If true , it is the height of aloofness and lack of empathy for the youths killed in these protests . Let us now look at messages of solidarity with the youths on End SARS and the issue of police brutality in the US .
From the US former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 2020 Presidential candidate Joe Biden both of the Democratic Party, have come calls on our government to stop the killing of innocent Nigerian youths by the security forces . For this we should be thankful . I do not however expect the US President Donald Trump a Republican to say something like that because he is a law and order person who believes Police should be supported when looters hijack protests and attack policemen as he did over the Black Lives Matter protests in the US . Indeed Trump is putting his political life on the line over this law and under issue and it is the flagship of his reelection campaign for this November 3 presidential election . Trump is against looting and the hijacking of protests by looters and hoodlums such as happened in our cities and state capitals in the last few days . Nigerian governors are well advised to borrow a leaf from the American president’s book on law and order . They will learn that it is not safe nor is it good governance to flee with the hunted and hunt with the hunter . Once again From the fury of this pandemic God Lord Deliver Nigeria .
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