Nigerian Youths Revolt

Prior to writing this, I thought I wasn’t going to have a lot of words to pen down however it is the contrary. I am proud of my generation. I am proud of Nigerian youths who have woken up to fight against the tyranny of law enforcement and bad governance. This revolution is not televised, no thanks to scared television networks that have been politicized. The revolution is live and documented by tech-savvy youths, citizens of the nation and children of the Nigerian heritage in the diaspora. The world has just witnessed an uprising that is Nigerian Youths.

It is a rarity to find a Nigerian youth that does not have a story to tell about an encounter with SARS and police in general. I too have my own experiences which has always ended up with me being extorted or in tears begging not to be taken to their station. One of the memories of my encounter with SARS happened a year ago. I was driving out of my house to my mom’s store two streets away from the house. The police were in their van, they watched me drive out of my compound and followed me into the street where my mom’s shop was. They jumped out of their van with aggression and trigger happy fingers like the SWAT team in American movies. I was lucky because before they could interrogate me or ask me questions, the entire neighborhood ganged up on them asking the police men what I had done and vouching for me that they know me. I remember one woman shouting “That boy no get wahala. He go just greet you, waka dey go him own”. What if no one knew me in the neighborhood? What would have become of me? Not to mention nights where I am heading home from work and I get stopped at their check point, heart palpitating and terrified of what they might do to me or hold over my head.

Over the years I developed the anxiety of stepping out of the house because of police. I hated driving because I don’t want to trigger any stressful situation all because I might have an encounter with police on the road. The police situation in Nigeria is one that affects all youths. There is no exemption! When it comes to police brutality in Nigeria, privilege is not the absence of pain. Youths have been extorted, beaten, arrested without reasonable backings or offenses. Just because of how they look, be it dressing fashionably, having gadgets or a hip hairstyle. Some have been blackmailed because of the contents on their phone. Many have been profiled, many have been set up, uncountable have been murdered.

While the Nigerian Police Force has done a lot of harm to the citizens rather than protect us. I have seen the deepest acts of compassion shown to them by youths during this protest without losing the message, cause and reasons for this protest. We understand their plight and them being way underpaid and overworked. While it may be hard to agree, they are also victims of bad governance. However, enough is enough. It is time to put an end to all the madness by the government and innocent killings of civilians.

Nigerian Youths Are Revolting! The revolution is live and ongoing.