End SARS; What We Learnt From The Movement

 In the wake of recent events; the #EndSars movement that occurred in our nation Nigeria, it is most apparent that change has indeed come. 

The past week has been a devastating one following the #Endsars movement. This was organised to protest against police brutality on young promising youths in the country.

It however resulted in bloodshed of some protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos who were wounded by soldiers following instructions from the government.

It has been a period of mourning, pain, and anger across the nation. What started as a peaceful protest amongst the youths of Nigeria, ended up in pandemonium, deaths and loss of property (by miscreants who looted people’s stores). 

However, I do not regret that the #Endsars protest happened. We as a nation have learnt viable lessons from it. 

My only regret was that people died in the process, something I prayed wouldn’t happen.

The protest was widely recognised and carried out at once across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. We had influencers, celebrities, and companies give their voices to the protest. It made history as one of the strongest revolutions in Africa.
In 24hrs, the movement raised about 4 million Naira to help physically challenged protesters and about 37million Naira through crowdfunding to support the #EndSars movement; from feeding to logistics and to technical setup. 

Regardless of the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded this protest, there are a few things we learnt.

What We Learnt From the #ENDSARS The Movement.

I. The government can see that this is a generation ready to fight for their rights and wouldn’t back down so easily.
They might use force or threats to scare us but it wouldn’t work; the energy in the air cannot be suppressed.

II. The youth have learnt that coming together as one, we can achieve a whole lot. As the hash tag read; #uncoordinatedcoordination, this was the best way to describe it.
With no one in the lead; people donated money, took care of the injured, and provided food and security at the protest grounds. We saw protesters protect each other as they prayed (both Christians and Muslims), protest grounds were cleaned up daily, and Nigerians speaking with one voice and in unison, with no tribalism or religious attacks. It was amazing for everyone. All these happened naturally with no one being able to explain how.

Even when the government requested to speak to the leaders of the protest, no one wanted that name or the recognition that came with it . We all just wanted to see results, we wanted accountability and fairness. Did we get it? Not directly or totally but that action is definitely keeping them on their toes.

III. Another lesson was that a long time plan and strategy is needed to sustain the energy and protest not only for #endsars but also #endbadgovernance in Nigeria.
It is great to know that conversations are going on around this and people are coming up with reasonable ideas already. We’ve realised we need to pace ourselves because it wouldn’t happen overnight but we must be consistent if we eventually want to see results.

Furthermore;

IV. The protest opened the eyes of most Nigerians especially the youth, making them aware of the importance of voting. It has been a wake up call as many have decided to get their PVCs( Personal Voters Card) unfailingly to vote in the 2023 election. The importance of voting cannot be over emphasised as voting for the right person can change a whole nation for the better. We know the political system of Nigeria can be discouraging, but unbiased voting is definitely one big step to changing that narrative.

V. Finally this taught us that we need to reach out to local communities around us and educate them. Most of these communities have suffered poverty and have felt decentralised for years. From these communities came the hoodlums that vandalised the stores of hard working Nigerians, stealing their goods and in some places burning down their stores.
This affected everyone as it was sad to see businesses suffer, but it helped open our eyes to some facts that we need to go into those communities, to not just educate them, but hear them out. As well as find out what they need, feed them and work together to build their communities.

United We Stand

The power we have is us. We truly are all we have. I have seen people set up go fund me accounts for businesses who suffered loss, and they’ve raised a reasonable amount so far. The state also set up something for them as well, but it’s great that private individuals are also playing their part.

If we are going to build a New Nigeria, it will start from us, and the way we come together to build. Waiting for the government to do everything will be a waste of time. So as we have started, let us continue to build gradually by educating each other, finding solid representatives amongst us that can lead in a certain capacity, and grow together. With these, a NEW Nigeria is imminent and will definitely emerge.

Let’s keep the momentum alive . Together we will win.

Proudly Nigerian