The recent #EndSARS protest was a worthy cause but lost its credence due to the infiltration of several undesirable elements who joined the protest and break detention centres and freed dangerous criminals, attacked security architecture, dehumanised security personnel, stole weapons and burned properties worth billions of naira all under the guise of protest.
However, the genuine protesters are those young people who have had enough of the lawless and brutal treatment of some the members of the special anti robbery squad popularly known (SARS) specifically sparked and trigered by a video that trended in social media of a young man shot by the members of the SARS who took away his car, along with other pictures and excruciating experience narrated on social media by different people on the brutality by the squad.
This awakened the spirit of solidarity within young people across the country to come out en mass and demanded immediate disbandment of the unit and some major reforms in the police which the government acceded to.
The best lesson from the #EndSARS protest, in my opinion, is the reality that young people in Nigeria, like their contemporaries around the world, can be organised and work towards a particular goal. This means they can change things that are uncomfortable with them in the country.
In the 2019 general elections, INEC database of registered voters showed more than half of all voters, 51.1 percent, are between 18 and 35 years of age. Also, the ongoing continues voter registration exercise shows that youth constitutes the highest number that completed their registration. This gives us an edge as the largest segment of the society holding the largest voting power in our hands to change our conditions without violence or protest that could cost lives – the more young people die in the name of protest the more voters we lose.
The best way to honour the victims of #EndSARS is for the youth to be organised and come up with a national youth base cutting across political parties that will overcome the boundaries of ethnic and religious. It should be fully funded by youth to avoid god fatherism and infiltration of undesirable elements.
If young people can spend N7.2 billion on a Reality TV show and donate over N200 million in a very short time to celebrate the birthday of a celebrity in this same economy, which the same youth are complaining, then we are more than capable in both finance and numbers to register a party and support a candidate of our own generation to any position where he can favour the youth and their agenda. This is the highest respect we can offer to those who died fighting for our rights.
The truth is, no one, no matter how specialised, can know the problems of young people more than the youth. Ttherefore, supporting our contemporaries in all ramifications necessary to succeed in critical leadership positions is inevitable to change the pathetic and sorry state of youth in the country.
Enough of talks without actions, enough of protest that costs lives, enough of participating in politics as thugs, enough of serving in miserable positions that we cannot make changes. Our absolute loyalty must be to our generation and the common good of this country.
While recognising that not all young people are prepared to lead, we must disagree with the chronic fallacy that the 140 million (60%) of the country’s 200 million people has no one that possesses the requisite skills to lead as president, governors or parliamentarians.
As we approach the 2023 deciding year to vote another president and other leaders who will lead Nigeria for another four years, and the waves of politics are already on high gear warming up for the races, young people cannot afford the usual business of exclusion from the decision table.
They must come up with their own table as the invitations to other tables had been elusive over the years. The episodic invitations for youth to serve on lowest levels in governance and politics should no longer be tolerated. The time to strategise to shake the table is now, we have lost yesterday and today is already here but with the opportunity to decide on how tomorrow will look like for the young people.
Musa Gambo, Maiduguri, Nigeria [email protected]
