#ENDSARS: So what next?
The last few weeks have been tumultuous in Nigeria, and a lot of young Nigerians are experiencing something like this for the very first time in their lives. The last time we had a Protest like this was in 2012 when we had the #OccupyNigeria largely coordinated by the Save Nigeria Group where some young and middle-aged Nigerians were quite instrumental. This was largely as a result of economic impropriety in the Oil and Gas sector. The Government’s approach at the time was to remove Fuel Subsidies which the people revolted against. Asides from the 2012 protest, we had another major one in 1993, after the annulment of the “freest and fairest election” ever in Nigeria. The 1993 Protests also had young and middle-aged Nigerians leading and coordinating.
Young people protesting is not new to our clime, and I believe it is important we properly manage the rhetoric as though young people are protesting for the first time ever. It is however noteworthy to appreciate the level of coordination and management that the early part of the protest experienced. The most fascinating bit for me was that a lot of the coordination of these protests were by people who really seemed less interested in the political space. This actually took the Politicians and their supporters by surprise. That was the most novel part for me, and the foresight to lockout politically biased assets from the driving seat further gave some more credibility to the cause.
I believe there is no debate whether the #EndSars Protesters won or not (they won), despite the sad ending as the plight of the Nigerian youths in Nigeria has been exposed globally. The Government has also shown some commitment to execute in totality the demands of the 5 for 5. The demand of the young people was very reasonable as none of it should require any serious processes to get done, maybe except for the increment in the payment of salaries for the Police Officers. It is however quite disheartening that it was the Protesters that requested better salaries for the Police, as they have the Police Service Commission that should be responsible for the well-being of the members of the force.
The #EndSars protest was very necessary as the Police authority took the people for granted as there had been numerous complaints about the abuses of SARS. The Police should have been more proactive in intervening, but they applied cosmetic intervention for years, and as such, the Police have some negligence responsibility in whatever escalation might have happened. That said, the Police have a difficult job with a shoestring budget to execute, however, can we say the police are without blame? No is my answer. My submission is that as long as the Federal Government is reluctant to let States and Local Governments cater to the security of their residents and citizens, there is little chance that Policing would significantly be better. I cannot say there has been a significant change since 1999. The range of offenses we expect our police(wo)men to address is unreal, bearing in mind the level of training, development and resources we provide to them. Also, I am not sure how we think having 1 Inspector-General of Police to be responsible for 400 thousand police officers can work. It is not practical!
In the last few days, there have been calls for a new Party primarily for the Youths. In my opinion, that is technically flawed as setting up a party for young people is discriminatory. Operationally, it also has the tendencies to alienate people as they grow older. Being a youth is not a permanent situation, as we all grow or die. Political Parties should be built around ideas and philosophies. What are the philosophies and ideologies of this new party? These are the features that would attract or alienate more people. As noted earlier, a lot of young people today are not very politically active, however, those that are should come and contribute to this move.
The more I think about it, the more I am clear that maybe a new political party should not be the objective. Having a Political Movement may be a better idea. This movement can actually decide to engage Political Parties at local levels challenging the political party processes. Politics is a long game, and to win, you cannot go with short term plans. Our current practices at the Party levels cannot give us the level of development required. External forces are required through INEC and other strong Political Movements.
I have listened and read from a lot of the young people speak about citizen education about Politics. This is the right approach, but we however need to ensure that those educating the citizens are clear on the responsibility of Governments. We need to make pocket-size copy of the constitution available to as many people as possible, because that is the foundation of our democracy. Governments are important, but they are not all doing. I have seen these people “drag” a legislator for building a poor bridge or not providing free school bus ride whereas their responsibility should be lawmaking. People that know the history of “constituency projects” would agree on ending it, rather than making it more “accountable”. There is a lot of misinformation and corrupted messages out there, and as such, we need to ensure that this is not what we educate the people with. Miseducated is worse than Uneducated.
A great man once said, “Never waste a crisis". It is very important we do not waste this crisis. And this lesson is for everyone. The Police, Army, State Governments, Civil Societies, the People, etc. This crisis has exposed our Police as an ill-prepared organization that is not competently able to manage a few thousand protesters. The Police should maintain Law and Order. What better situation to maintain order than in a Protest? The Army also showed that they are unable to manage peaceful civil disobedience without gunshots. This is totally unnecessary as there has been no evidence of the protesters been armed. For State Governments, the lack of active First Responders was exposed all over the country. How many states have designated protests areas? The NPA HQ was set ablaze in Lagos, on the bank of the Atlantic Ocean, the Fire Services were not available to put out the fire, or the fire in the other areas. Though the Governor of the State alluded that 3 Fire Stations were also set ablaze, it is still difficult to understand how that should ground all Fire Services in the state. During the protest, the Civil Society community was not very involved as the protest was led mainly by people with no civil society backgrounds or affiliations. And for the larger community, though young people were the direct victims of SARS, older people also struggled with them as monies were being raised by older family members. The Protest should not have been left for young people alone.
As the dust settles, it is important we start to ask important forward-looking questions. There are no misdeeds that happen in the Police than do not happen in other Government agencies on different scales, so it is important we ask more questions in our engagements with Government and her agencies. And yes, we need to do this together as more people question and challenge misbehaviors, the sooner and likelier that our engagement experience improves. Public Policy and Execution is not a Sprint. It requires everyone to endure and stay focused on the goal. Together, we win.
Olamide Eyinla shares his thoughts from Lagos, Nigeria.