#endNegativityInNigeria

#ENDSARS

#endPoliceBrutality

#endNegativityInNigeria

Being a Nigerian citizen has for long been a curse on the individual. Being one only means you were born in a very, very unfortunate place.

A country where you could get murdered in cold blood, and safe for your family and some close relatives, no one would bat an eye, except you are a part of a select few.

When you get killed, there will only be uproar on social media for a couple of days and then you become one more dead person- just another one.

Wherever there is a law, the lawmakers seem very eager to show how ‘powerful’ they are by trampling over everyone on their path to breaking said laws.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit in the Nigerian Police popularly known by their acronym SARS, has been carrying out special searches in peoples’ bags and have been able to so solve robberies only in laptops and smart phones. 

They question individuals based on appearance and the prices of their gadgets.

Just harassing a person because of the value of their gadgets begs the question, “Is being rich a crime?” if having a good phone at a young age is such a crime then I think they do not want anyone to even work or succeed at all.

When you work, you earn, and when you earn, you spend it on yourself to look and to feel good, but these people will make you think twice about dressing well to look nice, or spending the money you have either been gifted or worked for.

But if I am being harassed for my labor, is there any need to put in work again? For all my hard work I’m either labeled a criminal or called a lazy youth. Where do I go from here?

The right to privacy is said to be fundamental, but I have not seen it implemented, and especially not with this unit of the police.

With SARS, you do not have any privacy. They will ransack your bags and your body until you begin to feel your spouse doesn’t even do a thorough job.

Several people have been stopped, searched, and have been embarrassed in public. If it had ended at that point, then the only thing that got hurt was one’s ego, but that limit has been surpassed and bodies have been falling, and that is a step too far by any standards. 

The persons charged with protecting citizens are the persons taking the lives they are supposed to protect.

This is human lives we are talking about. Terrible enough for our country, these people are playing God with our lives; right before they commit one of their ‘special’ tasks of either searching or shooting, they will openly tell you that they will kill you and nothing will happen to them…

[PAUSE]

Whose power are they standing on? Whose protection are they banking on? Which ultimate blanket of protection are they lying under? It’s one simple answer, and it is that they are being protected by the highest people in government. If one can take a life without any punishment, then they must have some serious backing, for if I have such high backing, how will I not be arrogant in my dealings?

The leadership in this country is anything but what leadership should look like. There is no direction and there has been no discernable progress for as long as one cares to look. 

All that the people in position want to do is to loot funds for their generations that are yet unborn. But what about I who am not related to you? You swear to serve and to protect, but all you do is serve your family and protect yourselves.

You will not even let others below you partake in the meal. You will choke there alone.

The citizens, and especially the youth have had enough of any form of nonsense that comes from this horrible governance, and SARS has to go. For years, the sect has been disbanded, reformed, re-arranged, or gone through some other form of restructuring, renaming and transformation, but that has been seen in name only.

We have been marching and we are marching to peacefully but firmly raise our voices that we may be heard, and that this unit called SARS or SWAT, or whatever new name they decide to call it will be ended. Now.

There have been talks of reforming the entire sector, that is good news, but it is not one we want, and time for managing and patch work is over. We want a total overhaul of the sector, with new leadership and new trainings impacted into them. New methodologies of doing things is what we want, not the rugged, street stop-and-search.

We do not want any name change- we have had that already, and it has not improved anything one bit. #ENDSARS and #ENDSARS NOW! #ENDSWAT and #ENDSWAT NOW!

To everyone out there protesting- stay strong and keep going. The road to freedom is a long and dangerous one. Everything begins with the little voices, and together we will grow loud enough that everyone will get to hear us. Nothing worthwhile is easy, but with consistency, perseverance and endurance, we will pull through. Freedom will come at some high costs, but the destination and sacrifices will well be worth it.

Keep fighting for what's right, and to end the wrongs Ultimately, may we remember this time when our time to lead comes, because it surely will. May we not become the monsters we are fighting.

To those who are passive because it does not affect you directly, please know that we are all different and I am not going to judge you, but please empathize and  with the friends and families who have lost a friend, a son, a daughter, a human being. Put yourself in their shoes and feel the pain that they felt. Remember that before anything, we were human.

End negativity in Nigeria. End police brutality. Do not let the labors of our heroes past go in vain. Let us continue to fight for a better Nigeria. It is possible. It is achievable. It begins with me. It begins with you.