As the dust settles on what has being a very emotional week in the annals of the history of this nation. A call for sober reflection is spreading across the country. At this point, there is so much back and forth concerning the events of October 20, 2020. The alleged massacre that happened at lekki toll gate that pushed the country into the depths of chaos. With so many accounts going all around, eyewitness accounts, government accounts, and denials circulating at the speed of light, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. I am not an investigative journalist. It would be amiss of me to post unconfirmed stories at this point. But one thing I can say, this week was a watershed moment in the history of this nation.

Except we want to deceive ourselves, anyone who paid attention to the situation in this country could have seen that Nigeria as a whole was a ticking time bomb. Due to years and years of systematic oppression, ethnic friction, organized crime posing as government, they have mismanaged Nigeria to the point that there was always going to be consequences. The leaders who have been placed in positions of power to rule have shown that the greed and corruption that has been the bane of the black man is not going anywhere. Where do we even start? It is now glaring, the reluctance of the average Nigerian to claim responsibility for their actions. Everyone is always looking for who to blame for their suffering, ignorance, and pain. No one wants to admit that they could have done things better. I would go on the record and say this. The events of the last few days are not the product of a faulty system. It is solely the fault of Nigerians. Me and you. No matter how we try to pick sides, an honest assessment of the situation would reveal that at every major stage of our descend into anarchy, we had a choice to do things differently, but our greed, selfishness, and innate corruption would not allow us to think of how our actions are affecting our fellow man. I can remember vividly during the build-up to the 2015 presidential elections. The so-called youths were once again paid instruments in carrying out nationwide protests against the incumbent government. The Occupy Nigeria protests that were held all around the nation were a political strategy to cause unrest in the nation. But at least the protesters understood that their fundamental right to protest should not be used to infringe on others’ fundamental right to freedom of movement and expression. Which was the first mistake the #endsars protesters made? The moment you act like your fundamental rights supersedes the fundamental rights of your fellow man, your movement has already lost its purpose before it begins.

You begin to wonder about the quality of education in this country because while we might be the most populous black nation in the world. The level of ignorance in this nation is outstanding amongst the youths, especially the ones that claim to have received a formal education. They have thrown common sense outside the window and we can find the definition of wisdom in twitter quotes and memes. One of the most ignorant quotes that I witnessed online is of a lady saying when government blocks roads for repairs, people are patient, so people should be patient as the youths block roads so Nigeria can be repaired. Well, all my life, whenever there is a road repair, the government always creates an alternate route for motorists to pass, you know, because it would be counterproductive to bring the entire business/ economy to a halt. All because you are trying to fix roads. That was the number one mistake.

Number two mistake was when I saw many youths asking, “How did we get stuck with this president”? And in my mind, I was like “seriously?. You people are asking that?” I was unfortunate to be serving when they held the recently concluded presidential elections. Serving NYSC members were the principal election officers, and I am ashamed to say that we were all out there looking for who to scratch our hands. The topic that day amongst corpers was who was able to get the highest amount of money from the elections. Yes, us. Yes, we youths that are feigning ignorance of how this government came into power. Yes, our youths that are protesting a corrupt government that we whole heartedly partook of in the wanton rigging that put them in power. We are the ones now complaining that how did we get to vote in this set of people again. We have short-term memories when it comes to our fault and deficiencies, it seems. A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. We are the reason for everything that is happening. That is why I am even ashamed to come out and criticize this government, and many of us youths shouting should also too. We are no different from them. We are all hypocrites. The only difference between the sars that are killing youths and the protesters is that they are not in a position of power. There is no greater evidence of that than what happened in Lagos. For years they have been complaints that the toll gate was Jagaban’s creation to extort money from Lagosians. So they burned it down. And what was the first thing our freedom fighters did? Created hundreds of toll gates all around Lagos to extort money from Lagosians. I mean, the level of irony on that is mind boggling. We need to break free from the mob mentality syndrome that has besieged our youths and start thinking independently for ourselves. As shown with these protests, we have been used as pawns by various antigovernment people pushing their agenda while pretending to support a genuine cause. They offered their support which was nothing more than Greek gifts and now we are paying the price with our lives. Enough is enough.

This is a rallying cry to we youths. For every action, there is an equal opposite reaction. We cannot take part in the corruption and then be surprised when it turns around and bites us in the butt. We are not outside the system. We are the system, and we are paying the price for our sins. If every Nigerian begins to consciously .........
https://revoluth./2020/10/24/endsars-a-dance-amongst-thieves/