On 10.10.20 at about 7:00 pm, some unknown members of the Nigerian Army tragically opened fire on unarmed EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate killing more than a dozen of the innocent and harmless protesters. Undoubtedly, the action enraged the whole global community, and everyone agreed that such a crime against humanity is incompatible with a democratic government. However, the incident is a depiction of how unperturbed the Nigerian government has been over the plight of common citizens in over six decades of Nigeria’s independence from British rule.
Human suffering is akin to Africa. There is nowhere else, in our modern world today where economic and political suffering is more pronounced than in Africa. The level of man-initiated pain and catastrophic suffering inflicted on the masses by the political elites is on an unimaginable scale. These heinous acts of suffering are deliberate; so that the masses can be kept in perpetual slavery. The ruling class has so much weaponized poverty for instance, that even University graduates often engage in verbal altercations among themselves when their favorite politician is smeared in the public square as not doing enough for people. The suffering that Africans go through every day reminds me of what the Bible says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2, KJV).
Across Africa, there is a gross disregard for the rule of law. The public funds that are supposed to be used to improve the lives of people are often diverted for private use by politicians. They go to different parts of the world on health tourism, exotic vacations, and wild party celebrations to prove a point of their arrival among the first-class citizens in the society. Unfortunately, on the other hand, there is massive unemployment, ever-increasing lawlessness, a mental health epidemic, and police brutality against the youth to mention just a few in the different countries they govern.
October 2024 marks the fourth anniversary of the protest against police brutality directed towards Nigerian youths. No doubt, the day remains one of the most horrific scenes I have ever witnessed in my whole lifetime. It was bothersome for me to see the Nigerian government turn a simple protest into a mayhem of bloodshed in what we now know as the Lekki shooting massacre. The dastardly act was perpetrated by the Nigerian government, through a military special operation on innocent Nigerian youths.
The two significant requests from these youth were for the government to end police brutality in the country and a legitimate demand for good governance from their elected political officers. The Nigerian government failed to accede to the request of the Nigerian youths; in response, the government mobilized the military to move to the protest site at around 7.00 pm on October 10, 2020. The military personnel unleashed terror on the protesters by firing at them to disperse them. Many Nigerian youths died that day, and several were severely injured. I cried very bitterly when I saw the graphic picture of the shooting from CNN. I could not correlate why a sensible government would use a military operation to disperse the protest of unarmed youths as though they were fighting the enemy from another nation; threatening the country’s territorial sovereignty. The fact that I wept on that day reminded me of what the Bible says “When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2, KJV).
This year’s 4th anniversary is a reminder that the Nigerian government still has the opportunity to redeem its image and churn out good policies that have a human face in their implementation rather than the usual way of bourgeois spending, public deceit, propaganda, medical excursion, weaponizing of religion, ethnicity, and poverty. No doubt, these devilish old tricks have left many Nigerians traumatized, depressed, helpless, and hopeless about what the future holds for them.
Nigerians are suffering, the earlier this government realizes this fact the better for the nation. How can you rationalize that a 50 kg bag of rice is more expensive than many Nigerians’ monthly gross income? This was not the same Nigeria some of us were born into several years ago. The cost of a loaf of bread now was the cost of a car back then when some of us were born. Nigerians have a right to decent livelihood, they deserve to be happy and be protected from harm. They have the right to vote and be voted for like every other high-class politician. These are the rights of the people and functions of a sane government.
Those in politics are not doing the masses any favor; their job is a call to selfless service. Any citizens who pay taxes should not be denied access to good roads, constant electricity, clean water, the right to the safety of life and properties, reasonable health care services, good education, and freedom of religious affiliation. Good governance is not rocket science, we only need a strong will as a people to make it happen! An uncaring politician, maybe on a fantasy island and benefitting from the bad social system today. But I want to assure you that in less than two generations of your children and grandchildren, things can cascade and be a serious payback time. You and your grandchildren may suffer the most from the horrific and backward social system you helped to create.
Let us as a people make hays while the sun shines and rewrite the story of our nation by joining hands together to build a great nation that the next generation will be proud of and happy to perpetuate. Let us build a solid nation that has a conscience. A nation we can all participate in its development; founded on justice, equity, and moral virtues.
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Author: Olusegun Osineye
Olusegun Osineye earned his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Transformational Leadership from Boston University. He's passionate about creatively adding value to the black race by utilizing life's simple philosophy for their flourishing.
