Does it not amaze you how people can begin a protest for a cause and it just becomes something so big? We’ve seen this happen in other countries like Libya, Egypt, and others. We see that the ongoing protest in the country has spiraled into diverse directions and has taken many shapes and forms according to various interests and counter interests. We are seeing human beings acting and showing what they were made of all along. It is not about looking good, dressing smart and driving a good car. When ‘push comes to shove’ you see that man, woman, boy, girl, young lady and young man in their true characters.
![Youths urge President Buhari to restrain military from #EndSARS protest](https://i0.wp.com/nationalaccordnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EndSARS-1.jpg?resize=800%2C537&ssl=1)
As a people, we have developed certain ways of being; of reasoning, of behaving and of handling one another that we are not strangers to where we have now found ourselves. Our actions and choices have led us to where we are today. As much as everyone’s personal actions have contributed cumulatively to what the nation has become, anyone of us in a position to reach out to the next person, execute a service or make decisions that affect other Nigerians directly or indirectly, such persons have even more responsibility over the situation we in are today.
The current protests began with #EndSARS but has also become an avenue to voice all other sources of dissatisfaction and frustration for the populace. Don’t you find it interesting that such level of protest for once is happening in Nigeria portraying widespread agitation, distress and voicing of anger over the entire state of things across every level of governance in the country? This is certainly one of its kind in our experience.
Someone recently told me that when a well has water, all you can do is get a fetcher, throw it in and get out the content of the well. So, you keep getting the water like that and the water keeps reducing in volume. After a while, the fetcher simply hits rock bottom and there is just nothing else to draw out. He kind of explained Nigeria in this way and ended with the statement that one day all that has been thrown in will be fetched out and then there would be nothing more to fetch. That one day, Nigeria will be a great nation, a truly great nation of the world.
This discussion took place weeks before this protest began. I felt like, perhaps that friend was being prophetic. He voiced this deep optimism that a time will come when Nigeria will have no option but to face itself and repair itself. That time looks like it now depending on how all these go. Nonetheless, this outrage and experience will not be forgotten in a hurry, especially if not much is repaired after it.
The voicing of anger and frustration over the conduct of SARS officers was the tip of the full cup. This cup has been boiling for decades and across generations. The Nigerian cup with its innumerable blessings and extreme abundance have also been full of poverty, hardship, oppression, marginalization, tribalism, nepotism, corruption, consistent extortion, extra judicial killings, hunger, near-collapsed educational system, insecurity, crime, politics of thuggery, and poor infrastructure. These have turned Nigerians into a people of great resilience.
Now, that cup is boiling over and people who suffered in silence and pushed the barrow of life, grinding every day, are now standing up and speaking out. They are so invested in this and are ready to see it yield change in everything called Nigeria. Unfortunately, families have already lost loved ones in no time and lots of properties already destroyed. These and other twists and turns seem to unearth new episodes of what we are seeing.
Nigerians simply want to have their basic rights acknowledged, respected and provided for. These basic Human Rights include the right to life and liberty, right to shelter, right to good food and drinkable water, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to work and education. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without any form of discrimination.
As a nation, we have the capacity to attend to these rights for our people. And so, we can fill our cup with all that is noble, true, good, honest, right and just.
It is time for the commoners on the street: be they men, women, youth, police, army, para-military, civil servants, workers, lecturers, small and medium business owners, political aides, political praise-singers, teacher, pastor, student, and every other commoner who struggles to make ends meet – it is time to know that when you bribe, distort, follow blind orders, cheat your neighbor, oppress, change figures in the books, scheme to rip the state or federal government, inflate prices, embezzle funds, ask for sex or money for marks, drive rough, kill with impunity, and the likes, you are directly messing up this country for yourself and for your children.
Those at the helms of affair like politicians, local, state and national leaders and big company owners who have perfected these acts will leave you to suffer when things get very tough. You as a commoner will still come back to your vomit of poverty and poor legacy which you have been running away from by being fraudulent and uncompassionate towards your fellow Nigerians.
Even those at the helms of affair, those we have the tendency to hail and praise because they have the money, position and power, with all the comfort they have built around themselves even in the midst of so much suffering and hunger, they too each get to pay the price of what they have contributed to this country, be it deeds of light or deeds of darkness.
Youth, get sense, get informed, get wise, step out and step up to stand and speak up for your own future and for the generations after you! Those youths who allow themselves to be kept illiterate, ignorant and are used for thuggery purposes have their lives to lay down at the altar of nothing.
#EndSARS
#EndInsecurity
#EndPoliceBrutality
#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria
Together We Can… Fill our Cup with all that’s Good for Nigeria
So what YOU DO… as a Citizen and a Leader Matters!
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.