The EndSARS Protest: Lessons on Effective Governance, Active Citizen Participation and Nation-Building

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins. — attributed to Soren Kierkegaard

Before the EndSARS movement, Nigerians were not strangers to protests and civil disobedience. In fact, EndSARS might have endured in our memories just long enough until the next problem to be fixed came along. Unfortunately, in their haste to squash what was spun in the media as an attempt to unseat the president, their fear of appearing to give in too quickly, to look weak in the face of domestic and international pressure, the government threw away the baby with the bathwater and inadvertently cemented the place of EndSARS in the Nigerian lexicon. Now, the movement is a reminder of October 20th, “the massacre” amongst other things. With the combination of the resilience demonstrated by protesters literally in a show down against live bullets, and the non-committal stance by government to address sincere grievances made by the former, all the government achieved was show a chasm of disconnect between those entrusted with the task of governing from the governed.

In the midst of all that chaos however — while government scrambled to find scapegoats and put on a show of strength — the youth under the leadership of a few distinguished ladies, set up systems to help protect peaceful protesters from touts and hoodlums (which formed an anti-protest protest and quickly opted for violence as their mode of communication) by providing feeding, legal help, medical help and logistics. Ultimately, those ladies demonstrated to all who cared to pay attention, the disparity between what government says is possible with the “scarce” funds made available to it, and what is actually possible. With an age range of 24–30 years, those women put to practice exactly the kind of empathy and humanity Nigerians repeatedly demand from their leaders, in a quest to build a truly egalitarian society.

I reckon that one of the major factors that ensures a disconnect between the people and those they voted into office, is the lack of unfiltered truth and communication medium to connect the two. High office, tends to insulate the occupant from the people. Considering that government is a tool for the people and by the people, having the real pains and grievances of these constituents distorted to paint a certain narrative to the principal or worse, ignoring them totally, sets up a government for failure from day one. Luckily, most state governments, federal MDAs and the Federal Government itself, are represented on social media these days. All that remains now, is for them to truly listen to what people require of their leaders.

During the protest for example, the Feminist Coalition (the group of those distinguished young ladies earlier referred to), went as far as setting up a call center where people all around the country could call in and request for aid in real time. Testimonies abound to show how that platform made all the difference between life and death for some protesters or unlawful detention for others. Now, one can only imagine how differently October 20th, 2020 would have been if perhaps, state governments around the federation ran and operated special call centers to serve two purposes:

1. Provide a listening ear to the masses, give them the dignity of being heard.
2. Exploit the opportunity of responding swiftly to the little things being raised over those calls, which are in fact things that would go a long way in providing real relief to the people.

Looking back now, I remember vividly how those protests began. The conversations began on social media and within a few days, a handful of people had showed up in the streets of Lagos. It was easy to tell that this group of aggrieved protesters, were largely of a certain age demographic. Akanda Design, ran a survey and analysis to show that the people most affected which invariably turned up for those protests, fell between the ages of 16–45. Coincidently, that demographic represents the “youth” in Nigeria. They turned out in trickles and then in huge numbers because, like someone rightly pointed out, they had grown up post-civil war and for that reason, had to a degree, a certain nerve to be unwavering in their demands of the government. Sadly, what that suggests is an unofficial concession from the people, to never voice out their concerns to the government without fearing for their lives or safety. It also indicates that when given the opportunity, judging by the conversations had over social media, television and radio across the nation, people would really unburden their bottled-up anger and frustrations. But most importantly, it indicates that there is a new generation without the scars of war and the fear attendant to them. They are politically curious and want to have their voices heard but, they are fast coming to the realization that the status quo doesn’t necessarily guarantee the kind of progress they eagerly anticipate. The government of the day has a problem unraveling in these ones and with that, a few questions to answer. How best can government bridge the divide between these very different generations of Nigerians? Would a brute show of force suffice in breaking their will and their resolve? What would a Nigeria of 20 to 30 years from now look like with docile, domesticated, broken set of leaders?

In conclusion, I am a firm believer that above the impulse of government to make an example of some to serve as a deterrent to others, should be an even more pressing need to curb the excesses and refrain from making victims, heroes or in the worst case scenario, martyrs where peace and order should be the highest priority. It is true that the EndSARS protest is now in the rearview. However, the lessons learnt on both sides will endure. The onus falls on us all to make something good of that very avoidable tragedy.