For those who won't fight, we see you.
Here’s a phone conversation of my friend and I.
Me: O boy! How far. Una dey protest for for your side?
Friend: What protest? Protesting for what?
Me: Bro, you don’t know?
Friend: Abeg tell me, you know say I no dey always get information early.
Me: Bro, Nigerian youths are out on the streets and all over the internet protesting #EndSars
Friend: Mtcheew! Nothing come out. Na waste of time.
Me: Why tho?
Friend: Is Dangote’s son part of the protest? What are the dignitaries and elites in our country saying
about this protest?
Me: Bro, do we really need them before anything happens in this country? Are the youths not enough?
Friend: See let me tell you, in this country, this kind of thing does not work in Nigeria, the government will only listen to dignitaries, men who have reached to be called opinion-leaders in Nigeria; and if celebrities are the ones pioneering this protest, let everyone just pack their bags and go home.
Me: My guy, abeg my pot of beans dey on top fire, Bye (ends call).
For me, the most painful thing since this protest started is not that Government has been silent or that the police are still very brutal despite the cause for the protest. It is some youths don’t get the point and are talking down this protest and expecting men/women of retirement age to come and be our voice. SHAME on them! Sometimes, I feel like cursing them not to enjoy the fruits of this protest for 600 years lol.
This protest is bigger than just an #EndSars or #ReformPolice project. It drives into the project of good governance and getting all that we deserve: good roads, infrastructural facilities, an educational system that can compete in the “world standard”, and most of all “FREEDOM TO BE”.
Most youths today cannot boldly define their lives in the nearest future, if it is not ASUU today, it is NLC, if not its SARS, if not its fuel scarcity, if not unemployment or something else. But our reality is, there is always a problem, and no solution is ever given, we only keep quiet, let it slide and the masses are the ones left to suffer the consequences.
Another hard truth is that, our politicians have stolen a lot from us and if we don’t stand up to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, they will steal from our children too. This country is in a pool of debts, most children of our politicians are probably citizens of developed countries, in the long-run when it is time to pay up these debts, it won’t be them paying, it will be we and our children paying through our noses.
So, dear friends sitting at home feeling upset about this protest, this is but a few reasons why we are protesting, this is why our voices must be heard, this is why we will not give in. we will continue. My happiness is that we the youths are not waiting on the elites and dignitaries, the opinion leaders in Nigeria before fighting. We are doing it with our blood and sweat! We will win and we will tell our children how we marched and used the internet to win.