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Close to four days after the calls for campaigns by ordinary citizens and celebrities to protest the killing of a youth in Ughelli, Delta state, it has been fairly difficult to get affected youths to voice their disgruntlement about their own safety. The so-called Fourth Estate – the media – have been quite culpable in their reportage of the online protests which has gone on since then. But an ingenious mix of online crowdsourcing and foot-on-the-ground effort is doing the magic of lifting the media gag and government negligence of matters arising. Right at the moment, the protests got to the streets from the different social media channels, media houses continued to ignore the unfolding events in their broadcasting. It was at this point that Nigerian youths found a way to amplify the message to ban the rogue police unit called SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) by co-opting more celebrity voices home and abroad, tagging media houses abroad, calling/messaging legislators, as well as taking the demonstrations physically to the seat of government.
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It is hard for media organisations to ignore physically taking protests to the seat of government. Public servants elected to the seat of power by the same set of people protesting injustices will find it hard not to address protesters camped in front of government houses. After the pioneering mass protest organised by musicians Runtown and Falz at a top-tier residential zone in the nation in Lekki yesterday, protesters proceeded to the State House of Assembly at Alausa, Ikeja. The vigil kept on overnight as observers from social media and online channels kept watch with those on the ground while funds and other resources were mobilised for the welfare of those on the ground. A nation without provisions and allowances for peaceful protests where the grievances of either a majority or minority population are expressed can boast of real social justice. Mass Protests provide a means for the people to express their views about governance before an election cycle. A mass peaceful protest is also an early sign of citizen rebirth and rejuvenation. It is a sign that the people are once again being made aware of their God-given rights to life, right to association, and right of free speech. Peaceful protests organised and patterned after this campaign to #EndPoliceBrutality and #EndSARS is an early sign that large-scale voter apathy during elections might be a thing of the past. Thwarting all gimmicks to stifle a people’s right to express their disgruntlement with modern methods might be a sign that the people are gradually finding ways to outsmart greedy politicians who capitalise on electoral violence and malpractice to scare voters away during elections while replacing them with their stooges. The peaceful outcome recorded in the recent Edo state elections with the will of the people attests to this rebirth largely engineered by a once docile youth population. The positive implications of this current development are far-reaching, and the great movement may outlive generations of those who have constantly under-developed the nation for more than 60 years. Featured Image Source: The Guardian NG
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