₦airaland Forum

Marine54:
United States should as a matter of urgency , designate Nigerian military units as a terrorist organization. Her cruelty against her innocent citizens whom she meant to protect is getting out of hand...

Why should it always be US ?

HomerTimpson:
you know,i understand you but you didn't have to sound heartless,just so you know am using tecno T605 its just unlimited browsing with any mtn sim,you think i'd be using android phone and be hungry But since you are smart in your own eyes just pray to GOD for my kind of situation right now. Peace

baba na so Nigeria dey....
pray to God to ease your suffering....

E never reach quarel bros

NGpatriot:
Youa re preaching to the wrong person, your sermon and emotional ramblings is nothing without credible facts and evidence of killings and massace and the fact that that you repeat your tales every minute doesn't make it true or acceptable in any court of law.

Show us real proof and evidence of massacre and 78 or 15 dead protesters of shushh..

From Lekki Massacre, to Lekki Killing, to Lekki Shooting, to Lekki Incident, to Lekki Situation.

With time, lie dey heavy for mouth.

CoderX:
Everyone is a "prophet" or "pastor" in Nigeria nowadays, even witches and wizards are using it to mask their evil... I'm not surprised.

True men of God will not even give themselves a title, it's in their deeds that you see it. May God keep exposing all these evil doers masquerading as men of God.

so he's suddenly not a prophet again?


wa wo

HomerTimpson:
Like this post was created for me right now,me and bro don't even know what we gon eat tomorrow,but we just believe we won't die.

You won't believe the phone am using to pass time

Bravo!!!!


You still even get sub sef

Babaplato:
Gbayi...God bless u jare

So he's not part of the government you want to change

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.
Nigerian

Nothing is not possible in Nigeria �����������

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.

ThisisBuhari:
This looks like arranged kidnapping.

Nothing is not possible in Nigeria �����������

make sense

capitalzero:
Read rubbish you typed again . Even army colonel was kidnapped and killed in Kaduna after random of 10M was paid. Army failed to rescue him.

capitalzero:
Read rubbish you typed again . Even army colonel was kidnapped and killed in Kaduna after random of 10M was paid. Army failed to rescue him.

capitalzero:
Read rubbish you typed again . Even army colonel was kidnapped and killed in Kaduna after random of 10M was paid. Army failed to rescue him.

What is Random abeg

Nigerin forces could do even better when the right motivation is provided

ikorodureporta:
Scam alert!
I've been hearing about that ministry....can they tell us how many graduates they've engaged in the past??

Nonsense brainwashers! So if person no fit answer their stupid assessment test, no internship b dat

What does it pay to be a pessimist. We just naturally refuse to see anything positive about the government and leaders of this country.


it won't pay in a bit

Ayekooto Akindele wrote
WHO ASKED THE MILITARY TO COME TO LAGOS?

this has been the question on lips of genuinely ignorant or deliberately hypocritical folks since the Lekki Protest ended last week Tuesday. I have the answer to the question.

Let me begin by saying that on 20.10.2020, I decided to go off air in protest of the "GENOCIDE" in Lekki, I will never support such against LAGOSIANS or OYOSIANS or even BAYESIANS.... anyone at all. But on Wednesday, when all those claimed to have died were denying, I paused. I said if the government denied it, those who lost their loved ones will not keep quiet. I just lost my dad and my beloved boss, I had lost my elder sister in 1988, I lost my elder brother in 2015 and so on, I know how painful it is to lose a loved ones and if your person had died by MILITARY bullet, no sane person will keep quiet. So, I was sure that Bereaved Parents, Guardians or Relatives of these dead people, initially 78 in number, will soon wear black mourning clothes and go to the Government House.

But on Friday, when all I saw was pictures of people who died but later came out to say they were alive, I decided to come back to social media. I started tweeting to air my opinion Days after I was convinced by myself that NOBODY WAS KILLED AT THE TOLL GATE.

I also watch how this alarm caused monumental destruction of monuments in Lagos and how everyone watched these folks without caution until LAGOSIANS begin to resist them. I also saw how many media houses started with the Headline LEKKI MASSACRE, LEKKI GENOCIDE and later LEKKI KILLINGS and eventually LEKKI SHOOTINGS. This further assisted my belief in the fact I had established above. I did not believe the Switch when she said the figure was now 15, and that she carried 7 BODIES TO THE FEET OF THE SOLDIERS. What? She was carrying the bodies to those who were shootings but she wasn't shot, neither did she get tired until she carried 7 bodies out of 15.....she definitely must be a guest at the Commission of Inquiry...even if those dead guys have no families, there must be people at the Lekki Toll Gate who must know one or two of them having stayed together for at least one week dancing and merrying.

So why did they shout MASSACRE, GENOCIDE? To hang a dog � you must call it a bad name. Who is the dog? Be the judge.

The hoodlums that ran POLICE out of town, had also disarmed the POLICE by stealing their weapons, burning their stations and killing the cops �‍♂️, the Police were thoroughly demoralised. These criminals now went to free prisoners in Edo. Edo Governor took a bold decision by declaring a CURFEW, and immediately he did, the MILITARY moved in to Edo to douse the tension, afterall, the police had been ran out of town...Now, Who invited the military to EDO? Is it Lagos Government or Edo Government? In Rivers, the military also came in, in Abuja, even Oyo, Ogun etc, who invited the military in all these places? Definitely the FG deployed the military to everywhere because, no serious Government will leave the country in crisis especially in the absence of the Police.

Why did Lagos become an issue? Lekki was an issue not Lagos because the military were in ALAUSA too but what made Lekki an issue is the word MASSACRE, GENOCIDE that one DJ Switch talked about.

Was there a MASSACRE? According to Google, Massacre is a Noun. It means "the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder. a general slaughter, as of persons or animals: the massacre of millions during the war".....So was there a Massacre in Lekki? MY ANSWER IS NO. This is one week after, no fact has proved this beyond the ranting and curses on social media.

Was there GENOCIDE in Lekki? According to Google, it is a Noun. It means "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group". So was there GENOCIDE in Lekki? My answer is NO.

Were there KILLINGS in LEKKI? If there were, I expected to see the real pictures not concorted as circulated but later refuted. I expected to see the families of the deceased immediately after. None of this was proven beyond rhetorics and emotional blackmail.

Was there shooting in Lekki? I believe there were shootings aimed at dispersing the crowd to observe the curfew. Yes because, there were about 20 people injured and hospitalised for sustaining injuries from mild to harsh, after which 2 reportedly died in the hospital �. One of the dead persons was said to be injured outside Lekki Toll Gate while the second had hit his head on something, Perhaps when he was running �‍♂️ from the soldiers.

So who is to blame? I blame the FG for not quick enough to nip the protest in the bud. I blame the genuine protesters for staying on the streets, blocking the roads even after FG had accepted their demands. What else were they looking for? Their unnecessary waiting allowed every form of interests to overthrow it and their leaderless nature threw them into anarchy which resulted in the looting and killings. The lies told about Lekki saga is callous and unnecessary, I hope all those who made the allegation of GENOCIDE and Massacre will bring their proofs to the Commission of Inquiry, failure to do so must lead to serious prosecution.

IN CONCLUSION, there are the genuine protesters led by SEGALINK who backed out when their demands were accepted. There are Politically Motivated ones who remained on the street shouting EndBuhari. There are Revolutionaries led by Sahara and IPOB who led many, directly or indirectly, into attack on properties and persons of interest. There are the criminals who want to free their colleagues and Rob some folks. There are hungry people who merely steal the stolen palliatives to survive. In all of these, the Political Protesters led us all to this point.

I thank the Federal Government for swiftly deploying the military to quench the activities of those bandits and hoodlums at a time when the police were under serious persecution ......

“Government has done nothing” – The lazy slogan that almost End Nigeria instead of Ending SARS

The average Nigerian does not trust a politician. It is said that if a politician says good morning to you then you can be sure it is afternoon or even evening. While this, by itself, may be a generalization that is part of the problem, those who hold it to be true should not forget the lesson here and that is, take note of whatever a politician is not telling you.

Politicians will tell you that leadership is the problem. They will tell you that you, as a people, are deserving of better leadership. They will tell you the only problem is bad leadership. But all these may just be good mornings. Let us talk about the afternoon and evenings during which they get into power and fail just like the one before them. Let us talk about what they are not telling you because they cannot tell you. That is that NIGERIANS need to change for the Nation to change. Nigerians need to be unlike the politicians we say are the problem, as much as possible, for anything to change. Sadly, we are not and the End SARS campaign is an example in our face even as we try to shut our eyes to the truth. The similarities were as bold as they were embarrassing.

Just as our politicians run for office with no clear agenda, we saw an End SARS movement that had no clear demands. Initially the call was to end the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police, accused of extorting and murdering innocent Nigerians. A day after the call started online, arising from a video of a shooting in Ughelli, the Nigerian Police promptly banned all Tactical teams, including SARS, from routine patrol and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc. The Force did not stop there, it went ahead to specify that officers are warned to immediately “stop invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices.” as this was an act usually related to extortion and even deaths. It instructed its officers to only attend to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises. Note that this was just a day after the online outcry began a fresh wave in 2020.

Taking responsibility, the IGP condemned the actions of such personnel and ordered the Monitoring teams to promptly arrest, investigate and prosecute officers who err. Perhaps not wanting it to sound like the usual promises that were not kept, the IGP said that the Commissioner of Police in charge of FSARS, Commissioners of Police in charge of State Commands and the FCT as well as their supervisory Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, will be held liable for any misconduct within their Area of Responsibility (AOR). Then he goes ahead to announce that two SARS officers had been arrested already, for oppression and intimidation. Their names were even mentioned.

None of these stopped or reduced the call to End SARS. But even more interestingly, none of these stopped the loudness of the claim that “Government has not done a single thing about the situation”

Ayo Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, went two days back on President Buhari’s twitter handle to reply a tweet wherein the President wished the American President, Donald Trump, well. Wizkid tells the President to “do something!” The narrative continued that the government had done absolutely nothing about the situation. It was as though no order was given, no SARS operatives were arrested and no Commissioners of Police were made responsible for every operative in his area. The End SARS movement gained momentum.

By Friday October 8, the End SARS protest officially started. By Monday October 11, just 3 days later, the IGP announced the total disbandment of SARS “…in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people”. The IGP accepted that some of his men were rogue and goes ahead to set up Citizens’ and Strategic Stakeholders’ Forum which is meant to ensure that the public can monitor the Police and ensure there is no repeat of what they had complained about. Not done, the Force announced that it is putting together an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Bodies to join the Police in investigating human rights violations as this “will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry.” The Press Conference ended with the Police thanking protesters for their sacrifice. But on Twitter the trend remained “government has not done anything. Na ogun go kee Buhari Papa”

At this point, it appeared as though DeRay Mckesson was talking about the End SARS movement when he admonished that “I am mindful that the goal of protest is not more protest, but the goal of protest is change.”

A day after disbanding SARS, being just four days after the whole protest started, President Buhari addressed the Nation promising that the government will not stop at ending SARS, it will go further to reform the whole Police. He admitted there were excess use of force and unlawful killings and promised to ensure the Police protects rather than take life. He promised justice and ordered investigation into the death of a protester. Again the reaction to this was “when will Buhari address the Nation, he has not done anything since we have been protesting”. Those who admitted he gave a broadcast preferred to analyze his accent. Videos were made were these words of his were removed and replaced with ramblings. Those videos trended more than his actual speech.

Almost immediately after this, while the protest was still less than a week, a 5 for 5 Demand came from nowhere and trended on the internet. These were five things the protesters, who at this point insisted that they have no leader, say they want. Promptly the Presidential Panel for Police Reforms accepted all 5 conditions without any question. Part of the demands was the unconditional release of protesters who were arrested, no questions asked. The Police did this promptly and even kept asking for more names. Another request was that there should be psychological evaluation for operatives of the defunct SARS, this too was promptly granted as the IGP ordered all operatives to Abuja for the test. Yet the protest got worse, the anger increased, there were a lot of “the government is doing nothing”. A prominent lawyer and social media influencer who is known for helping victims of Police brutality get justice, Segalink, was practically mobbed online for daring to say the government had done some things. Other influencers “respected themselves” and played along.

Yet the Government kept responding. Police officers were told at this point to stand down and allow protesters protest. This led to even more protest without incidents. The Presidential Panel reported promptly, indicting tens of SARS operatives, recommending some for dismissal, others for prosecution – to the average Nigerian, government was still doing nothing. The Police set up a new team it called SWAT. SWAT was not to patrol but to act on intelligence. The IGP engaged celebrities and influencers, some of whom shunned him last minute. He told them they will be invited to come and witness the training of the new team, he promised that no SARS operative is allowed in it, but the government was still doing nothing as far as the “informed young Nigerian” was concerned.

All of these were done within two weeks of the protest but the government was not satisfied. The Federal Government liaised with the States and an order to constitute a Judicial Panel of Inquiry was given. Each State was to get a Panel of youth, activists and civil society that will look into each case of SARS brutality, and it gets better, these hearings were to be done publicly. But on Twitter the government was still doing nothing. The protest gained momentum and youths were screaming “End SARS” even though SARS had ended. Social media influencers were urging them on saying “this is not the time to relent, we must end SARS, we have no leader, we are all leaders” But the Federal Government was not done.

It ordered a Victim Relief Fund and Lagos State immediately set up a 200 million Naira Fund. The famous Vice President, fondly called StarBoy, tweets about all these progress in such short time, but the shouts that the government is doing nothing became even louder. Anytime the shouter is asked what the government should do, he mentions something they are already doing and when told they are already doing it he says “are you comfortable with the country the way it is” The demand, the narrative, the whole idea or the lack of it just kept changing.

At this point, States started announcing their Panel members, youth representatives were being chosen, Governors joined the protesters. The Governor of Lagos came out dressed to protest, raised the flag of End SARS and tried to address the Youths. Before his address could get anywhere the shouts of “Sorosoke, werey” (Speak up, mad man) and "you done dey talk too much" rents the air to shut him up. This was the slogan for everyone who said ok can we at this point get to the negotiation table or at least know what exactly we want? Not deterred the Governor takes the demand of the Youths and heads to Abuja on the same day. He meets with President Buhari and then with the IGP and presented what “the Youths” want. But on announcing this, the replies were filled with more “Sorosoke, werey. Government is doing nothing” It was as though Government is either perfect or they are doing nothing; an attitude that kills progressiveness and growth.

This attitude of "we will keep going because no matter what the government does it is doing nothing" continued until the protest began to turn violent or, as the protesters and government officials who do not wish to be seen as unpopular, will put it, hoodlums started hijacking the protest. Governors Fayemi and Oyetola’s entourage were attacked. Then the protest came to Benin and went wide. There was no End SARS leader to call it off because “we are all leaders” and all these leaders did nothing to create the needed structure of command. By this time it was beginning to sound ridiculous to keep saying End SARS, weeks after it ended, so “End Buhari” was introduced. “Kill Buhari” also emerged, at least in Benin. Protesters or hoodlums were cheered on the streets because “Government has not done anything” even though it had been at least weeks and no one has been stopped by SARS across the Federation, no one’s phone was checked and not one, from 200 million Nigerians, was asked what he does with his laptop and of course nobody had been extorted or murdered, but the protest gained momentum until robbery, deaths from reckless driving and others came in. In Benin, protesters, or hoodlums, had tried to chase a vehicle and the driver drove into about 9 persons, and that was the beginning. The Police was told to stand down, remember? So protesters, or hoodlums, freed thousands of prisoners, including notorious hardened criminals, in two Federal Prisons, barricaded roads and extorted drivers who dared to move and burnt down about 7 Police Stations, destroying documents and carting away weapons and Police uniforms. Government Institutions were also not spared. At this point, of course, government was actually doing nothing. If the hoodlums are confronted they become protesters that “government is killing” If they are not confronted then activist Aisha Yusufu will say, as she did say in Edo, “Where is Governor Obaseki that Edo people put their lives on the line for?” Always remember that Government is doing nothing. But in few hours the same Governor declared a curfew and Journalist Fisayo Soyombo tweeted “The Obaseki that some of you wanted to kill yourselves over when his ex-godfather Oshiomhole shoved him aside in APC, see how he hurriedly announced a curfew to curb your #EndSARS protests”

The idea that the government, which banned SARS patrol before a protest, arrested rogue SARS operatives, disbanded SARS 3 days into the protest, setup victim fund, set up panel of inquiry with public hearing across the 36 States, released arrested protesters, among other things, "did nothing" to respond to the End SARS protest highlights a bigger problem with our thinking process.

We think Nigeria will change without hard work. Everyone wants to do the soft work of lamenting the problems, no one wants to do the hard work of talking about why these problems exist and how to solve them. So when government does something and we are still not Canada, it means government is doing nothing.

It has become a taboo to accept government did anything good and the question is if we can’t praise the good how can we criticize the evil? You need to show how good good is to show how evil evil is. We should celebrate goodness if truly we want evil to go out of fashion.

We need to know why, in the same country, we have a largely morally challenged Police Force yet a comparatively disciplined Military. We need to know how in a country where “nothing works” NAFDAC has made fake drugs scarce at least when compared to some time in the near past. We need to learn to acknowledge good even in people we may dislike, so that goodness will be fashionable. Had the protesters called off the protest when they had these wins and worked with government to ensure government keeps its end of the bargain to the letter, government would have seen the need to continue to impress, at least on this issue, to prevent another protest. But then those who say government does nothing did nothing to organize themselves into a progressive structure. In the end everyone lost something they should not have.

Government is doing nothing is a lie that undermines the problem with Nigeria. We need to find out what government has done, know the ones they did right so we can replicate it, then know the ones they did wrong and avoid it. That is how we fix Nigeria. Not by a lazy generalization which we copy and paste in all situations.

Eseoghene Al-Faruq Ohwojeheri
Co-Founder, Observe Nigeria

bdchange:
Married with four children in space of 5 years You African men will never change. That it even happened in this generation is pathetic and unreasonable. I don't even understand the loneliness he is yarning about. Better warn him not to cheat rather focus on his wife and children by first going for family planning. I hope they can give those children a better life. You can see what hoodlums are doing to the communities currently as a result of poor upbringing from useless parents.

What if they are quadruplet?

“Government has done nothing” – The lazy slogan that almost End Nigeria instead of Ending SARS

The average Nigerian does not trust a politician. It is said that if a politician says good morning to you then you can be sure it is afternoon or even evening. While this, by itself, may be a generalization that is part of the problem, those who hold it to be true should not forget the lesson here and that is, take note of whatever a politician is not telling you.

Politicians will tell you that leadership is the problem. They will tell you that you, as a people, are deserving of better leadership. They will tell you the only problem is bad leadership. But all these may just be good mornings. Let us talk about the afternoon and evenings during which they get into power and fail just like the one before them. Let us talk about what they are not telling you because they cannot tell you. That is that NIGERIANS need to change for the Nation to change. Nigerians need to be unlike the politicians we say are the problem, as much as possible, for anything to change. Sadly, we are not and the End SARS campaign is an example in our face even as we try to shut our eyes to the truth. The similarities were as bold as they were embarrassing.

Just as our politicians run for office with no clear agenda, we saw an End SARS movement that had no clear demands. Initially the call was to end the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police, accused of extorting and murdering innocent Nigerians. A day after the call started online, arising from a video of a shooting in Ughelli, the Nigerian Police promptly banned all Tactical teams, including SARS, from routine patrol and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc. The Force did not stop there, it went ahead to specify that officers are warned to immediately “stop invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices.” as this was an act usually related to extortion and even deaths. It instructed its officers to only attend to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises. Note that this was just a day after the online outcry began a fresh wave in 2020.

Taking responsibility, the IGP condemned the actions of such personnel and ordered the Monitoring teams to promptly arrest, investigate and prosecute officers who err. Perhaps not wanting it to sound like the usual promises that were not kept, the IGP said that the Commissioner of Police in charge of FSARS, Commissioners of Police in charge of State Commands and the FCT as well as their supervisory Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, will be held liable for any misconduct within their Area of Responsibility (AOR). Then he goes ahead to announce that two SARS officers had been arrested already, for oppression and intimidation. Their names were even mentioned.

None of these stopped or reduced the call to End SARS. But even more interestingly, none of these stopped the loudness of the claim that “Government has not done a single thing about the situation”

Ayo Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, went two days back on President Buhari’s twitter handle to reply a tweet wherein the President wished the American President, Donald Trump, well. Wizkid tells the President to “do something!” The narrative continued that the government had done absolutely nothing about the situation. It was as though no order was given, no SARS operatives were arrested and no Commissioners of Police were made responsible for every operative in his area. The End SARS movement gained momentum.

By Friday October 8, the End SARS protest officially started. By Monday October 11, just 3 days later, the IGP announced the total disbandment of SARS “…in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people”. The IGP accepted that some of his men were rogue and goes ahead to set up Citizens’ and Strategic Stakeholders’ Forum which is meant to ensure that the public can monitor the Police and ensure there is no repeat of what they had complained about. Not done, the Force announced that it is putting together an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Bodies to join the Police in investigating human rights violations as this “will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry.” The Press Conference ended with the Police thanking protesters for their sacrifice. But on Twitter the trend remained “government has not done anything. Na ogun go kee Buhari Papa”

At this point, it appeared as though DeRay Mckesson was talking about the End SARS movement when he admonished that “I am mindful that the goal of protest is not more protest, but the goal of protest is change.”

A day after disbanding SARS, being just four days after the whole protest started, President Buhari addressed the Nation promising that the government will not stop at ending SARS, it will go further to reform the whole Police. He admitted there were excess use of force and unlawful killings and promised to ensure the Police protects rather than take life. He promised justice and ordered investigation into the death of a protester. Again the reaction to this was “when will Buhari address the Nation, he has not done anything since we have been protesting”. Those who admitted he gave a broadcast preferred to analyze his accent. Videos were made were these words of his were removed and replaced with ramblings. Those videos trended more than his actual speech.

Almost immediately after this, while the protest was still less than a week, a 5 for 5 Demand came from nowhere and trended on the internet. These were five things the protesters, who at this point insisted that they have no leader, say they want. Promptly the Presidential Panel for Police Reforms accepted all 5 conditions without any question. Part of the demands was the unconditional release of protesters who were arrested, no questions asked. The Police did this promptly and even kept asking for more names. Another request was that there should be psychological evaluation for operatives of the defunct SARS, this too was promptly granted as the IGP ordered all operatives to Abuja for the test. Yet the protest got worse, the anger increased, there were a lot of “the government is doing nothing”. A prominent lawyer and social media influencer who is known for helping victims of Police brutality get justice, Segalink, was practically mobbed online for daring to say the government had done some things. Other influencers “respected themselves” and played along.

Yet the Government kept responding. Police officers were told at this point to stand down and allow protesters protest. This led to even more protest without incidents. The Presidential Panel reported promptly, indicting tens of SARS operatives, recommending some for dismissal, others for prosecution – to the average Nigerian, government was still doing nothing. The Police set up a new team it called SWAT. SWAT was not to patrol but to act on intelligence. The IGP engaged celebrities and influencers, some of whom shunned him last minute. He told them they will be invited to come and witness the training of the new team, he promised that no SARS operative is allowed in it, but the government was still doing nothing as far as the “informed young Nigerian” was concerned.

All of these were done within two weeks of the protest but the government was not satisfied. The Federal Government liaised with the States and an order to constitute a Judicial Panel of Inquiry was given. Each State was to get a Panel of youth, activists and civil society that will look into each case of SARS brutality, and it gets better, these hearings were to be done publicly. But on Twitter the government was still doing nothing. The protest gained momentum and youths were screaming “End SARS” even though SARS had ended. Social media influencers were urging them on saying “this is not the time to relent, we must end SARS, we have no leader, we are all leaders” But the Federal Government was not done.

It ordered a Victim Relief Fund and Lagos State immediately set up a 200 million Naira Fund. The famous Vice President, fondly called StarBoy, tweets about all these progress in such short time, but the shouts that the government is doing nothing became even louder. Anytime the shouter is asked what the government should do, he mentions something they are already doing and when told they are already doing it he says “are you comfortable with the country the way it is” The demand, the narrative, the whole idea or the lack of it just kept changing.

At this point, States started announcing their Panel members, youth representatives were being chosen, Governors joined the protesters. The Governor of Lagos came out dressed to protest, raised the flag of End SARS and tried to address the Youths. Before his address could get anywhere the shouts of “Sorosoke, werey” (Speak up, mad man) and "you done dey talk too much" rents the air to shut him up. This was the slogan for everyone who said ok can we at this point get to the negotiation table or at least know what exactly we want? Not deterred the Governor takes the demand of the Youths and heads to Abuja on the same day. He meets with President Buhari and then with the IGP and presented what “the Youths” want. But on announcing this, the replies were filled with more “Sorosoke, werey. Government is doing nothing” It was as though Government is either perfect or they are doing nothing; an attitude that kills progressiveness and growth.

This attitude of "we will keep going because no matter what the government does it is doing nothing" continued until the protest began to turn violent or, as the protesters and government officials who do not wish to be seen as unpopular, will put it, hoodlums started hijacking the protest. Governors Fayemi and Oyetola’s entourage were attacked. Then the protest came to Benin and went wide. There was no End SARS leader to call it off because “we are all leaders” and all these leaders did nothing to create the needed structure of command. By this time it was beginning to sound ridiculous to keep saying End SARS, weeks after it ended, so “End Buhari” was introduced. “Kill Buhari” also emerged, at least in Benin. Protesters or hoodlums were cheered on the streets because “Government has not done anything” even though it had been at least weeks and no one has been stopped by SARS across the Federation, no one’s phone was checked and not one, from 200 million Nigerians, was asked what he does with his laptop and of course nobody had been extorted or murdered, but the protest gained momentum until robbery, deaths from reckless driving and others came in. In Benin, protesters, or hoodlums, had tried to chase a vehicle and the driver drove into about 9 persons, and that was the beginning. The Police was told to stand down, remember? So protesters, or hoodlums, freed thousands of prisoners, including notorious hardened criminals, in two Federal Prisons, barricaded roads and extorted drivers who dared to move and burnt down about 7 Police Stations, destroying documents and carting away weapons and Police uniforms. Government Institutions were also not spared. At this point, of course, government was actually doing nothing. If the hoodlums are confronted they become protesters that “government is killing” If they are not confronted then activist Aisha Yusufu will say, as she did say in Edo, “Where is Governor Obaseki that Edo people put their lives on the line for?” Always remember that Government is doing nothing. But in few hours the same Governor declared a curfew and Journalist Fisayo Soyombo tweeted “The Obaseki that some of you wanted to kill yourselves over when his ex-godfather Oshiomhole shoved him aside in APC, see how he hurriedly announced a curfew to curb your #EndSARS protests”

The idea that the government, which banned SARS patrol before a protest, arrested rogue SARS operatives, disbanded SARS 3 days into the protest, setup victim fund, set up panel of inquiry with public hearing across the 36 States, released arrested protesters, among other things, "did nothing" to respond to the End SARS protest highlights a bigger problem with our thinking process.

We think Nigeria will change without hard work. Everyone wants to do the soft work of lamenting the problems, no one wants to do the hard work of talking about why these problems exist and how to solve them. So when government does something and we are still not Canada, it means government is doing nothing.

It has become a taboo to accept government did anything good and the question is if we can’t praise the good how can we criticize the evil? You need to show how good good is to show how evil evil is. We should celebrate goodness if truly we want evil to go out of fashion.

We need to know why, in the same country, we have a largely morally challenged Police Force yet a comparatively disciplined Military. We need to know how in a country where “nothing works” NAFDAC has made fake drugs scarce at least when compared to some time in the near past. We need to learn to acknowledge good even in people we may dislike, so that goodness will be fashionable. Had the protesters called off the protest when they had these wins and worked with government to ensure government keeps its end of the bargain to the letter, government would have seen the need to continue to impress, at least on this issue, to prevent another protest. But then those who say government does nothing did nothing to organize themselves into a progressive structure. In the end everyone lost something they should not have.

Government is doing nothing is a lie that undermines the problem with Nigeria. We need to find out what government has done, know the ones they did right so we can replicate it, then know the ones they did wrong and avoid it. That is how we fix Nigeria. Not by a lazy generalization which we copy and paste in all situations.

Eseoghene Al-Faruq Ohwojeheri
Co-Founder, Observe Nigeria

ON THIS, I SIGN OFF AND CALL IT A DAY

Dear Nigeria Police Force,

Please we apologize on behalf of Nigerians who demonized you
They put everyone in the ‘bad eggs’ basket, and for this we say sorry.

Now we know how important you guys are, and we’ve realized say no be all of una bad. Please stop vexing and help protect lives and properties whilst you get rid of the bad eggs amongst you.

We know many of you have zero morale at the moment, but make una think of Nigeria abeg. The rate of robbery/destruction yanzu is crazy, help us Biko, doxology

Thanks & God bless you all
We shall continue to speak up on Police reform plus increased welfare.

Warm regards,

ON THIS, I SIGN OFF AND CALL IT A DAY

Dear Nigeria Police Force,

Please we apologize on behalf of Nigerians who demonized you
They put everyone in the ‘bad eggs’ basket, and for this we say sorry.

Now we know how important you guys are, and we’ve realized say no be all of una bad. Please stop vexing and help protect lives and properties whilst you get rid of the bad eggs amongst you.

We know many of you have zero morale at the moment, but make una think of Nigeria abeg. The rate of robbery/destruction yanzu is crazy, help us Biko, doxology

Thanks & God bless you all
We shall continue to speak up on Police reform plus increased welfare.

Warm regards,

ook

It's well

Anyone burning police stations, torching BRT buses and private cars, setting courts ablaze, looting Shoprite and Palaces, barricading the road and extorting road users is EVERYTHING that is wrong with the youth of this country.

You are the reason the Movement may fail.

#truthissacred
Selah.

Youth unemployment must be addressed going forward.

Celebrities spitting fire in twitter while the jobless youth are in the street losing their lives over it.

[quote author=Algold post=95338368]I booked this space for all ARSENAL FANS[/quot
e]

bros you broke my heart

what a pity