We Need Leaders

You think substantial social change requires protestors to be on the ground pushing really hard? Great!

You think that's all we need for a revolution? Think again. Protest indicates courage. But wisdom is the better part of valor. It can't be underrated. Not even because we are so angry right now. Of course, police brutality must end, and if that means scrapping any unit—call it SARS or its variant, SWAT—so be it. We have just one goal. And we have shown the world that we are uncompromising about it. But what if we fail? God forbid that the many days of protest go to waste, and the death of fallen comrades amount to nothing. That, unfortunately, is where the arrow points.

From all indications, we have the social media to thank more than anyone else for the #EndSARS movement. But for the very abstract space it provided for expression and anger incubation, the 'Who leads?' controversy would, probably, have prevented us from ever setting out in unison. It, however, beats me that despite how far we've come, the quest for supremacy threatens to tear us apart and rubbish our quite little achievement. We started cooking our defeat from the outset, though, when we dragged and abused those who started the fire. It didn't end with Naira Marley who first proposed a protest. Some went as far as insulting older activists, telling them what to say and when. Where were you when the likes of Bob Dee and Sowore were being hunted for daring to stand by the people? Everybody claimed to be angrier than another. Maybe we are really more upset this time. Maybe our elders haven't done it the way we expected. That's still no reason to call them cowards. Our generation is, no doubt, more daring, but those ahead of us are wise. We aren't. We need their wisdom.

We initially thought we needed no leader; all that mattered was people's anger, and their ability to carry placards. We goofed. But that can be blamed on two things: the nature of the uprising itself which gave no time for consultation, and our almost zero knowledge of history. What makes one revolution succeed and another fail? Leadership! It's the difference between the successful Tehran 1979 and the failed Tiananmen revolution. Two things are very important to uprisings: symbol and strategy. What happens on the streets is but the symbolic, which can achieve very little without real strategies for translating individual concerns into political action. And this requires organization and visible leadership.

The issue right now is not whether we need a leader or not. Events have settled that. Some people will have to speak our mind at meetings with the government. But we are divided on who should step forward. A fraction wants the fighters we've always known. For some time now, Nigerian youths almost always invoked Segun Awosanya each time someone ran into trouble with the police and, he hurried to the rescue of many. Carrying him along now seems appropriate. For other protestors, however, it's not about what anybody has done or is doing. Only saints can make the list. The average Nigerian can sell-out, after all. Don't we all have a price? This is also a valid reasoning.

All this is yet a little strain of division. But may deepen so much in the coming days as to water down the movement and our achievements so far. Trust the politicians to take advantage of every crack. What a great shame it will be to lose this battle because of our inability to agree. Perhaps, we don't even know the magnitude of what we've started. This revolution is not just about ending SARS. Far from it! It's the very birth of a new Nigeria. That nation that has always existed in our dreams. Did you know that the armed forces have been one of the major instruments of oppression and suppression in the hands of power mongers? If we can successfully tame them now, then we can do anything we so wish. We can go ahead and say 'no' to unfavourable policies in the nearest future. We can wake up one day and ask for a new constitution. We can ask for a good cut in the salary of politicians tomorrow or even ask the president out the following day, without fear of being shot. That's freedom. Freedom! And the politician knows it.

Dear compatriots, this is no time to find faults or trade insults. It's a time to admire everyone and then build fraternal bridges with fighters of older generations. We have a lot to learn from them. Every well-known guy in the #EndSARS movement deserves to be our leader, although some might be more suited for civil engagement than others. Let them meet, settle every rancour, and then stretch out into a visible and transparent structure. Right now we should draft a tangible strategy to permanently end police brutality. This is where we need leaders. And the rest of us will not rest until government clearly commits to the document.

But we may have to hurry before the momentum drops and we are left with a kind of theatre. People will not be on the streets forever. And should we fail this time, greater will be the fall. Aluta Continua!

Ayeni Faith Damilola
Twitter: @AF_Damilola

Africa don't have leaders instead they are bind with common goals, tell your thief cartel that advocate for leadership have failed

Elvictor:
Africa don't have leaders instead they are bind with common goals, tell your thief cartel that advocate for leadership have failed

Well...but take a look at history.