The road to Mali

By Richard Odusanya

“The AFRICAN HEAT for change started in Sudan and spread to Mali and has now arrived in Nigeria. It will soon arrive in Cameroon, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, and elsewhere. Young Africans are taking charge without violence. African politicians must repent.” – Prof PLO Lumumba

Nigeria is a cultural nation where oppression and entitlement dressed in the garment of respect always happen and younger generation and youths are meant to keep silent in the face of this blatant oppression and wickedness from so called leaders.

Our beloved is a chaos! It’s apparent that many Nigerians are in excruciating pain. Since Independence, Nigeria has been cursed with bad leadership. Leaders who have no adeptness to focus on the needs of the people have impoverish the fabrics of their existence.

The federal economic and finance ministers, manipulators, and other so called economic gurus, continue to deceive Nigerians with voodoo economic analysis that things aren’t as bad as they seem but behind closed doors they sing different tunes. However, they cannot refute is the reality of the perpetual abyss separating the poor and the ruling class.

Vibrant and gifted Nigerians turned beggars wandered through the streets. Petty street hawkers of underwear, socks, rubber heels, silverware, and others appears like a rash over the face of Nigeria towns and cities. Graduates at all levels across disciplines drive Kekenapeps, Danfos, and motorcycles to survive.

Unemployed youths in the millions have become a wild and homeless lot, socially disinherited and candidates for prisons, morgues and the electric chair. Elderly ones are
hungry. They depend on public charity and Good Samaritan neighbors for food and shelter, days of sombre discouragement accompanies pensioners and some died in hunger and disease.

Nigerian have lost the real meaning of living. Majority of Nigerians live on less than $1 a day and it’s their starvation wages which permit the
fat pay packets of the ruling class and other privileged economic saboteurs. The members of the ruling class have destroyed the vision of the future. They have turned their backs on the future and embraced wickedness.

The addiction of these vultures to corruption and wickedness transparently set them against
all human values and democratic norms. The poor masses have become emasculated and hopeless. Revolt against injustice is not only honorable but it is imperative.

“We are tired of whimpering in our little corners, such as your bedroom and this column, and getting nowhere. Let us advance outdoors and scream together, in the streets. You have the organizations that can inspire every Nigerian to join a peaceful demonstration of your definition. Let us announce that Nigerians are no longer content to leave Nigeria to travel unsupervised. We have the power, in peaceful protests, to paralyze in order to energize.” – Sonala Olumhense

Humiliated and downtrodden Nigerians have endure the worst abuses without complaint. Things working in other countries don’t work in Nigeria. Which is why the country isn’t moving forward and it seem like it would take forever for the Giant of Africa to advance with the rest of the developed world. Because Nigerians have been afraid of police brutality and other vices to confront their oppressors.

The Revolution Of Values has began, the entire global community, men of good conscience, friends of Africa and Africans home and abroad are in solidarity with Nigeria situation and her youths who earnestly demand for a responsive leadership across board.

The hapless citizens have nepotism to end, bad governance to overhaul and accountability to demand for. The Nigerian youths are taking their future away from the control of the old crop of leaders who gave them nothing but an abominable country.

#EndSARS is just the springboard for a holistic approach to many other anomalies in the system under the leadership of Major General Muhammad Buhari and his bandwagon. Nigerians are demanding a new Nigeria, a new constitution, and referendum now. We need to amplify the real demand of the Nigeria youths whose futures and lives have been destroyed and mortgaged by the recklessness of the Nigerian scam called leaders.

Consequently, we feel duty bound to highlight the following: lack of transparency, trust deficits, accountability, divisiveness, NEPOTISM, plundering of resources and squandering of riches. In the light of the aforementioned and it’s pertinent to mention that the issues of trust deficits and poor leadership sabotaging our dear nation.

The Vice-president Prof Yemi Osinbajo’s apology for the government mismanagement of resources, maladminstration, abuse of office holders and running the economy aground, including abuse of privileges is neither here nor there. We need a government that is humane and ready to established a strong bound with the citizens. Apology without an intention of repentance isn’t nothing but a strategic planning and manipulation of the citizens.

Amnesty international documented 82 Extrajudicial executions of unarmed civilians with the recent over 30 killed during the #EndSARS peaceful protest and yet the leadership is showing lack of interest to resolve the nation woes. It’s for this wrong profiling and so many other reasons that we ask the FG to #EndSWAT and totally #ReformPoliceNG. It’s still a very long walk to freedom, but I’m certain that we’re ready to do it, no matter what it takes.

#EndSARS is a metaphor for the real issues, a tip of the iceberg. We need to take a critical look at the message coming from the Nigerian youths. It is about the culture of impunity, corruption in the highest echelons of government agencies, plundering of resources and squandering the riches. The future our country and its youths is at stake.

The youth shape the narratives of these protests for a global audience in such a way that beats our imaginations and the best the government can do is to play catch-up or react. We have come to accept that these youth are the most organized people that is seen to have emerged as a pressure group from Nigeria.

The vibrant youths shun tribe and religion. They simply don’t care and are not playing. You may have thought they were docile and you may have called them lazy. But they are proving to be among the most resilient, educated, articulate, detribalized, collaborative, digitally savvy, patriotic, altruistic, dynamic, artistically talented and most law-abiding generation of Nigerians. The world should know that a REVOLUTION of values has earnestly began in Nigeria.

As the protest gained momentum,
major routes in the country are closed. You can’t fly, you can’t travel. Inner cities are crushed with traffic snarls. Nigerians are cursing each other in gridlocks. A Nation of very angry frustrated souls of all demographics.

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A dynamic Nation with a high youthful demographic needs a dynamic political leaders. We are drawn to tears as we see public officers exposing how trillions are being siphoned under a Govt that says it has the most honest leader. Till today, power is still a mirage despite trillion of dollars spent.

Indeed, every great thing starts small, now that the momentum is high, Nigerians demand should be more higher to cover an average Nigerian problems, good road, good electricity, security improvement, employment, good health care, reduction of our legislatures salaries and at least 50% youths in government positions.

This is the perfect time to demand whatever we want this country to become. We need to restructure this country so as to lift it from its present state of rotteness to a country we all desire. This is the only time we have to do this before the government will swoop on us and weaken our strength for they know how to divide us along religious and ethnic lines.

In conclusion, we are proud of the unbreakable spirit of our compatriots, particularly the youths who proved that they are not lazy: resourceful, a group of determined people, doggedly personified and resilience.

• Odusanya is the Convener, AFRICA CONVENANT RESCUE INITIATIVE (ACRI)