On the evening of Tuesday, the 20th day of October 2020, in the full glare of the world, the Nigerian Military on the orders of the Commander of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the President of the country, Muhammadu Buhari, opened fire on armed protesters, killing many of them in the process.
Let it be known that that particular day was the 14th day since the protests which most people in government circles dismissed with a wave of the hand when it began.
*Nigeria mourns*
*The land is red today.*
Now after the cries and the emotions have gone, what next?
Is this the end of the protest, *the Nigerian Youths Revolution*, that was designed to birth a New Nigeria, a country we, irrespective of tribe, religion and class,should all be proud to call ours?
*Far from it!*
*The Protests must continue till the leadership of this country realises the importance of opening up a direct channel of communication with the youths on the multifarious ills that plague this country daily.*
Only that this time around, we may not adopt the peaceful posture in the bid to achieve the lofty ends we have set for ourselves.
So what was the crime of the young people who were sent to their early graves by an arm of the Nigerian government which is now notorious for extra-judicial killings?
*They had the audacity to demand that Nigeria must serve every Nigerian and not only the Rich and the Highly placed individuals!*
And for this, they paid the Supreme Price!
I say, *May their bold and unconquerable souls find Eternal Peace in God.* Amen!!!
Today, Wednesday, the 21st of October 2020, in the light of the recent developments, the killings and the imposition of curfews across the states, and drawing strength from the wails of anguish on the faces of our brothers and sisters, as they gave up the ghosts, *We must continue the Protests!!!*
In discussions everywhere, the beneficiaries and protectors of the warped system Nigeria operates and the guardians of the status quo in their false security and intensely delirious state of inertia, ask themselves, What do these youths want again? They asked for SARS to be ended and we have ended SARS, what else do they want?
Come on! Nigerian leaders, are you daft? Or do you pretend not to hear?
We have been talking and making our points clear. But maybe the humongus amount of the country’s wealth you are *swallowing* daily, have made it difficult for you to hear. Or to reason.
For instance, on Channels TV Sunday Politics of 18th October, 2020, Seun Anikulapo-Kuti said, *”The EndSars is just a slogan to get the attention of the government. SARS is not the only problem of the Nigerian Youths or the country. The EndSars campaign was created for the government to open up channels of communication with the people on the way forward for the country”.*
Was his statement not clear enough? Why do the people in government still pretend not to know what the youths want?
Or is it the case of the protesters not having leaders that the government can talk to?
We are organized. We have credible youths leaders across the length and breadth of this nation. And we are capable of initiating and sustaining an intelligent discourse on the best path for Nigeria.
I am a credible Nigerian Youth leader with a global recognition. And we have so many of them like me in all the zones and states of Nigeria. So the problem of youth leadership is totally out of the question.
Why has President Buhari not addressed the country on these protests up till now?
A million dollar question, I daresay.
I have said it before and I will continue to say it, *there are thousands of reasons for reasonable people to protest in Nigeria!*
Nigeria is probably the only country in the world that can not boast of 12hours uninterrupted power supply despite the billions that are allocated to the Power Sector in our budgets yearly.
Nigeria is the only country in the world that operates with a Constitution that did not come from the people.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where highly placed Government Officers like the Governors, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, move in a convoy of cars valued at over #100 while most citizens can not feed decently on two meals a day.
Nigeria is the only country that does not know the number of her citizen, who lives where and who owns what.
Nigeria is the only country in the world which deliberately budgets more she can earn in a year, only to use the borrowed sum she calls deficit to service the foibles and frivolities of her politicians.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the citizens pay for appointments, employments and university admissions either in cash or in kind.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the people only get involved on how they are governed during election periods.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where Judicial Pronouncements have no precedence, and can not be known beforehand because they are always tied to the body language and even body odour of the man at the helm of affairs.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the people do not know what the President, Governors, Senators, Reps members and other political appointees of the government earn monthly and yearly.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where a large chunk of our yearly budget is used to pay the pensions of the retired political holders, the same ones who stole the country and their states blind when they were in power.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the Civil Servants and public institutions like the Police and the Military serve the People in Power and not the Nigerian people.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the height one can get in their chosen careers is dependent on the direction the odious Quota System pendulum swings.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where all the children of the politicians are schooling abroad.
Nigeria is the only country in the world where the politicians attend to their medical needs at foreign hospitals.
Nigeria is the only country among the modern countries where elected public officer holders go on holidays abroad as often as they want without accounting to anyone.
In Nigeria today;
There is no constitution.
There is no electric power.
There are no good roads.
There are no good housing projects for the people.
There is no Free and Independent Judiciary.
There is a highly demoralized, manpower-deficient, redundant, underfunded and politically-entangled Police Force.
There are no good hospitals.
There are no good public secondary schools and universities.
There are no Student Scholarships or Loans.
There are no social welfare schemes.
No unemployment benefits.
There is lopsidedness in appointments into government offices.
There is a high state of insecurity.
There is an astronomical level of corruption.
*In fact in Nigeria, there are no Citizens!*
What we have in Nigeria are the masses -nameless, faceless, amorphous, and lowly-rated individuals who do not believe that they deserve the good things of life, and are therefore, content or complacent with our parlous state.
I hope I have been able to state in an unmistakable term why the EndSars Campaign is on, *and must continue to go on*
So if anyone should ask why the youths are protesting, we should refer them for some psychological evaluation.
But this time, the protests should not be left to the youths alone. Every Nigerian should and must join the protests.
Sit at home, or come to the streets wherever you are.
*No more work, I repeat, No more work!*
We survived when they forced us into our homes in the guise of fighting the Covid-19. We will the same way now.
Nigerian Parents, it was your sons and daughters, the future of this country, that were mowed down in cold blood. Will you fold your arms, and do nothing about it?
We all should protest!
In the meantime, given the ugly incident at the Lekki Tollgate yesterday evening, I want Nigerian Youths all over the country to know that the number one enemy of the youths of this country, and by extension, the country, is the Nigerian Army and their Commander in Chief.
Please refrain from torching the offices and facilities of the men of the Nigerian Police Force. They have conducted themselves so very well throughout the duration of the protests so far.
Now that we have identified our enemies, we will add any highly placed Nigerian whose does not condemn in the loudest terms, that reprehensible and beastly action of the army, as an enemy too.
Like Mandela said, *”The strategy of the oppressed is determined by the oppressor.*
The Nigerian Army has descended heavily and brutishly on Nigerians without arms, I hope the world will not expect us to hurl sachet water and stones at them?
We shall re-strategize. And we shall retaliate.
Mind you, these protests are not made for any part of the country, as every Nigerian no matter the tribe except the members of the privileged class, is a victim of the irresponsible system we run in Nigeria.
We should not allow them to divide us with their usual tribal antics. The protests were not aimed at removing Buhari as the President.
*Let the protests go on. Nigeria must serve Nigerians and not the Rich alone!*
We mourn!
Adieu, brave soul!!!
*UgoGold N. Ofonedu*
*Nigerian Youth Leader*
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*GoldFacts …the truth as it is*
