WHY THE #ENDSARS MOVEMENT IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST ENDING SARS By Nneka Iheme
The Nigerian Youth had an awakening. And then they decided: They won’t sleep any longer.
October has always been a special month for the Nigerian people, at home and in the diaspora – a month in which the very first day is all about dressing to the nines in green and white clothes; the old and young crafting their ‘Happy Independence’ messages and posts, and Nigerians abroad waving the flag online in their good-natured oversabi way.
But as all other things ‘2020’, with each new month dropping a bomb bigger than the last, October proved to be no different, deciding that it was going to bring some special gifts, albeit bitter-sweet.
For the longest time, way before COVID became something of importance, Nigerians have been faced with their very own pandemic – The Special Anti-Robbery Squad. I mean, its no secret that the Police Force in general have almost no respect for citizens, display very little ethics, and extort people going about their day left, right and centre. But this unit; from the Akwuzu SARS in Anambra state infamous for their brazen extrajudicial killings to other notorious SARS departments all over the country, the evil they continued to do was too much. And so on the 8th of October, the movement for nationwide #EndSARS protests was born.
The protests originated from the frustration of youths who decided they had had enough. And every single thing about them was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The vim with which people took to the streets. The quickness with which donations were made and resources pooled together. The determination to make the leaders hear them out. History was playing out before our very eyes.
But in the course of these protests, several lives were lost. And for what? For the sole reason that people in power thought the best course of action was to answer pleas asking for an end to brutality, with even more brutality.
It’s completely heartbreaking because these were real people, with families and dreams and aspirations. That line in the anthem, “…the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain…” shouldn’t apply only to our founding fathers, but to people like these who lost their lives in their attempt to ask for a better Nigeria.
And just like that, our collective eyes were opened and it became clear that the #EndSARS movement was about more than just ending SARS. It was also about demanding a country where people could protest peacefully without getting killed. It was about asking important questions, like why a country that’s one of the poorest in the world is having the highest paid senators. It was about asking why we had people who should be in retirement homes, still in seats of power. It was about fighting for a country where poor, underprivileged or marginalized citizens could have a better life. It was about challenging the government to start living up to the expectations that had been set for them. It was for the next generation, for better education and job opportunities for them, so they wouldn’t have to run abroad. It was about taking back the power, by voting in only the people who we were sure had our best interests at heart. But most of all, it was now about making sure that the lives that were lost, were not lost in vain.
So, Hi there, I’m Nigerian and I want the government to be more accountable. I want an end to brutality, a complete reform of the police, and an end to bad governance as a whole. You should want the same too.
