#ENDSARS: SAVING THE BABY
- By Jay Ledion

I am human, and I am a Nigerian, and then I am Christian. Like millions of youths across the globe, I am totally against any form of oppression, whether at the level of the individual or the collective.

There is nothing more disempowering than when injustice and brutality are being served by the very people who are paid to protect the lives of their paymasters – the citizens. The anti-police brutality protests that have sparked off in several countries across the world is a reflection of the angst of the people against the over exuberance and malevolence of law officers. There is only so much the masses can tolerate before going beyond their threshold for bearing the excesses of the police.

That is one issue I wish to point out to our leaders; elected or selected, and any who cares to listen. The other point I would like to bring to fore is that while we all fight for reforms in governance and in maintaining law and order, we must be careful not to throw away the baby with the bathwater.

We need the government, and they have a responsibility, which we desire and have so bequeathed upon them; to provide law and order in the society. What is unacceptable is an abuse of such powers.

While there are widespread agitations against police criminality, (a sad paradox) and government insensitivity, we must also be vigilant because there are those who are strategically positioned on the fringes of such just causes, waiting to capitalize on weakened governments. The frightening reality is, not only are these people placed in high quarters, they are also mostly faceless.

With the government, we know them and at least have an opportunity to periodically have some say in the process by which they gain authority over us. On the other hand, these enemies of the people and of the state, who are already faceless and powerful, are never subjected to such scrutiny. How do we defeat an enemy we do not know?

A lot of billionaires, media tech giants and their surrogates fall into this nefarious group. They are already bigger than most governments and impact on our day to day lives more than any government can. Reports are also emerging that they are some of the sponsors of these protesters, who complain of finding it difficult to feed their families, but have been feeding large crowds for weeks.

When there is a breakdown of law and order, and the security officers have their sense of the moral obligation to protect the lives and properties of the people dampened, we the people become even more exposed and helpless to the hideous intents of an evil lot.

So as we all justly pursue reforms across all levels of governance, let us be very vigilant so we do inadvertently disempower government to the point that we become the very victims of weakened government structures. Failure to do so will mean that the government would then have to answer to these power players and would no longer function at the mercy of the electorate.