Yesterday, the Nigerian Army shot and killed unarmed protesters adorned with the national flag while they were singing the national anthem. Killing unarmed soldiers is in direct violation of the Geneva convention, not to mention unarmed protesters. I am enraged and so are millions of Nigerians. I cried last night and I had to explain to my fiancée, an American citizen, the consequences of the Army’s actions. The typical Nigerian is seen as docile and able to endure the inadequacy of government. However, when push comes to shove, people will wake up and take matters into their own hands. No one expects justice from a government that appoints their family members into the judiciary. Therefore, I predicted that the consequences of this murderous act may lead to a full blown civil war.
I delayed checking social media until 10am this morning and I was not surprised when I saw videos of places associated with the current regime in smoke. A few swipes after, a twitter thread of the governor giving excuses and claiming not to have given the order to execute the protesters. Some minutes later, videos emerged of him lying on tv claiming that no protester was killed. The people are angry and are defying curfew to avenge the loss of their brothers and sisters. Do I blame them? To be honest, I don’t. Neither do I encourage violence in any form and as a Christian, I try to practice turning the other cheek. But what do you do when your two cheeks have been assaulted several times and you have no extra surface area to offer?
The protest in the last two weeks have exposed the police brutality that the average Nigerian faces on a daily basis and in some cases, multiple times in a day. However, this is just a symptom of the poor governance that has plagued Nigeria for decades. Nigeria has enjoyed democracy for the past 21 years, longer than the sum of all the years we have had democracy since our independence in 1960. Yet, we have barely anything to show for it. The current administration was voted in on a wave of anti-corruption, yet we have only risen on the corruption indices.
The country needs a change. A REAL change, not some election mantra. For real change to occur, there has to be a restructure of the tenets in which our democracy was built upon. The Nigerian democracy can be described as a student who has copied a classmate’s paper and has forgotten to remove/edit the name on the paper. Our political system is built like the USA with a presidency, governors, and congress. However, unlike the Democrats and Republicans, our political parties have no ideology. Politicians swap parties before and after every election like secret santa. The congress is a retirement home for former governors who would have remained as governors if not for the two-term limit. For those who are unable to retain a senate seat due to their damaged reputations, the president rewards their loyalty with ministerial appointments.
Perhaps, we need to consider a different political structure. Maybe a parliamentary system. I do not know. But for a country that is divided that by ethnoreligious lines, it is evident that the current system does not work for us. At least most of us, not the 0.01% of the 1%. It is also evident that the current political class needs to pave way for a younger political class. Our current president was the head of state at 41 in 1983 and will be 78 in December. His tenure will end when he is 81 in 2023. That is 40 years in and out of the corridors of power.
I am aware that being young does not guarantee a successful administration as we have seen in some states. However, the organisation shown by the young protesters has proven that we are ready to lead. “Will it be any different when young people lead?”, a generic variation of the question on everyone’s mind. Yes, it will be. Governance has to be intentional. What is more intentional than leading a protest that cost the economy $2 billion in just two weeks? Imagine what we would add to the economy if we had the support of the government!
