EndSARS Debacles: Between protesters and looters
#Endsars struggle has been viewed by many as a catharsis that came full circle and finally gave way having reached a pent- up or tipping point . It is adjudged as a metaphor for public quest for accountable governance. But it had to take the aperture of police brutality for it to be ignited. And since the youths were the butt of SARS wanton indiscretion and impunity, it was easy for them to mass their youthful energy together for the onslaught. The result was the widespread peaceful protest across the country and even the diaspora until it lost its purpose to criminals.
Peaceful protest is a legitimate complement of democracy. An English -born American Labour leader, Samuel Gompers once said “show me the country that has no strikes and I’ll show the country in which there is no liberty”.
Peaceful protest which is interchangeable in meaning with strike is a measurement of the extent of progress society has made in deepening democracy. But just as the right to protest is inalienable in a democracy, that right must be handled with utmost responsibility and caution less anarchy sets in and jeopardises the noble objective of the protest. This is what has unfortunately dogged the #endsars protest.
There is no dispute in the assertion that the #endsars protest was spontaneous. This perhaps denied the exercise a chance for the emergence of leadership. The result was that a protest which appeared well articulated and conducted peacefully and purposefully lost its bearing and direction as hoodlums infiltrated their ranks and hijacked the event tainting it with criminal activities ranging from looting, arson, rape , killing, vandalization and other assortment of needless violence.
It is a fact that those who conceived of the protest were patriots but those who later joined them were barefaced criminals. And because there was no leadership to check the criminal elements in their ranks, the protest degenerated to outright gangterism and brigandage. How does one explain the looting of private businesses like what took place at LG showroom, the Choice and other private outfits they savagely looted .
What was the sense in burning Anchor Insurance building, AKBC and touching banks and vandalising ATM machines to steal money? Are these part of protest? The youths ought not to have allowed these criminal elements to taint their noble venture and sully their reputation . They had set out with a purpose to achieve reforms in all facets of governance but the criminals turned this ideal into a criminal deal. This indeed was unfortunate.
The youths who conducted the protest must be applauded. I can wager a bet that they have been heard and very loudly too. Government at all levels must sit up and recognise the fact that they are the servants of the people and not their masters. The impunity which has become a norm among government officials must cease.
The mistrust between government and people comes from this cruel alienation. Let them bridge the gap to stem the hate and divorce themselves of insular conduct which breeds anger against them.
