Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Nigerian Youth

#EndSARS: ‘Do not Intimidate Nigerian Youth, Unfreeze Accounts’ – Tunde Bakare

The Serving Overseer of The Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has condemned the clamp down on #EndSARS protesters noting that the older generation cannot afford to keep ‘sinful’ silence over the incident.

Bakare, who disclosed this in an address in his church on Sunday also condemned the freezing on accounts of #EndSARS promoters describing it as some of the actions recently taken by the government which needs to be reversed.

“As our nation returns to the drawing board in the wake of the #EndSARS protests, I have observed with keen interest the policy actions and positions taken by national and subnational governments to address the broader issues of youth development in Nigeria.

“Truth be told, this season of our national life requires deep humility, sobriety, and deliberate thinking through, both by the government and the governed, in order to ensure that our plans, policies, and actions are weighed before they are implemented to avert the re-occurrence of our most recent crisis.

“In light of the foregoing, some of the actions recently taken by the government on the heels of the EndSARS protests may need to be reversed sooner rather than later in our collective best interest so that they do not trigger further protests.

“Among such policy, actions is the freezing of the accounts of young Nigerians who reportedly sponsored the protests,” he said.

Bakare adds that although he accepts that under the country’s extant laws, banks may freeze an account upon an ex parte order granted to a law enforcement agency by a court of competent jurisdiction for the purpose of the investigation, but this Law should not be used to intimidate Nigerian youth simply because they engaged in and promoted protests against the inactions of government.

He said, “targeting and arresting citizens on trumped-up charges, deploying court probes as a tool of intimidation, and generally eroding our fragile peace, are deeply worrisome signs of regression.”

Speaking concerning the shooting of protesters, Bakare who is also the Convener, Save Nigeria Group (SNG) lamented that this is painful.

“As I reminisced on the unfortunate incident of the shooting of unarmed protesters by Nigerian soldiers, I recalled with solemnity how I almost lost my life in the Ali Must Go protests as armed policemen fired live bullets into a crowd of students protesting peacefully.

READ ALSO: Fish Out Those Who Ordered Lekki Shooting, Bakare Tells Buhari

“It is painful that the younger generation has had to face the same beasts we fought in my generation. This is why we cannot afford to keep sinful silence when the youth of our nation are being oppressed by a Nigerian state that is supposed to protect them,” Bakare said.

He however commended the Federal Government for taking some actions like the disbandment of SARS; setting up a panel of inquiry with youth representatives; and the launch of N75B Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (N-YIF), Bakare urged the Federal Government to reverse the decision of freezing the account of #EndSARS campaigners.

“I commend these actions by the Federal and state governments. They have, to an extent, been forced to self-reflect and align with the times,” he said.

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November 16, 2020
‘Keep the Peace’ – Nigeria President Tells Youth

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday said he has mandated his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, to meet with traditional rulers across the nation with a view of addressing some of the demands being made by the youths.

While responding to the recent #EndSARS protest and the mayhem and destruction of public and private property that came in its wake, Buhari tasked Nigerian youths to embrace peace, saying it’s in their own interest ultimately.

President Buhari receives in audience Hajia Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations in State House on 9th Nov 2020.

The President spoke at State House in Abuja, while receiving in audience the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, who’s Nigeria’s former Minister of Environment.

READ ALSO:

Head of Nigeria’s Electoral Commission Hands Over to Surbodinate Pending Re-appointment

Buhari said: “Our own generation is on the last lap, we are exiting.

“It is in the interest of the youths to keep the peace. They want jobs, infrastructure and development. I have sent a team led by the Chief of Staff (Professor Ibrahim Gambari) to go round the country, talk to traditional rulers, who will then talk to the youths.

“The views of the youths have been heard.”

He added that the current administration inherited severe infrastructural deficits, “and that is what we are fighting to correct. We can’t just sit, fold our hands, and do nothing. We are doing our best within the limits of resources.”

Buhari rued the fact that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shrunk the global economy, noting that “this is something you can’t see, smell, or hear,” but which has wrought devastation on lives and livelihoods round the world.

READ ALSO:

Nigerian Senate Warns Government of Another Protest if Needs Aren’t Met

On climate change, the President, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Nigeria was concerned about the recharge of the Lake Chad, which has great implications on security, irregular migration, and livelihoods.

In her remarks, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said she was on a courtesy call with her team to flag interest on challenges that concern the global body, particularly COVID-19, climate change, security, and humanitarian responses to the diverse challenges.

Idowu Sowunmi

November 10, 2020
Our Winter of Discontent

By Dapo Akande

Free provision of food and water. Atypical orderly queues. Free medical care. Free legal representation. Spontaneous crowdfunding to purchase a prosthetic leg for a female amputee protester who refused to be deterred. Fund raising target was N1.5m in one month. N4.1m raised in three hours. Lesson; accompany compassion with will and anything is possible.

Raised banners. Fluttering national flags. Impassioned anthem singing…then a rain of bullets. Sudden tragedy. Eerie screams. Pandemonium. So who amongst these were thugs? Tuesday, October 20, 2020 was yet another dark day for our fledgling democracy. Yet another, because it wasn’t the first. Over 300 Shiites were reportedly killed in cold blood by our armed forces in 2015. The IPOB propagators suffered a similar fate. Lesson; injustice meted out anywhere is injustice everywhere. Never turn a blind eye because it doesn’t directly affect you. One day it may arrive at your doorstep.

Many western nations are preparing for a potentially harrowing winter as Covid 19 cases spike. The annual season of influenza approaches and portends a winter of discontent, if we’re to borrow a line from Shakespeare. Nigeria, blessed with comparatively low cases of the dreaded Coronavirus has yet again used it’s own hands to invite a disaster that should never have been. The utterly heartless and cowardly slaughter of unarmed and peaceful protesting youths, has foolishly ushered in it’s own winter of discontent.

Fed up with staring hopelessly into a bleak future, our youths finally came of age to say enough is enough. Attracting the admiration and respect of all well meaning Nigerians, they took to the streets in the most spontaneous yet orderly, legal and organized fashion to register their discontent. I, for one, doff my hat to them not just because they’ve finally woken up to the fact that power resides in their hands (no matter what anybody says) but because of the incredibly efficient, clever and united way in which they did it. They displayed a front of solidarity rarely seen on these shores, which thankfully put a lie to the tribal, religious divisions that the old guard have sold to us for far too long. It brought tears of pride to my eyes to watch as the Christians amongst them formed a wall of protection around their Muslim brothers and sisters as they took to their Friday Jumat prayers. The Muslims reciprocated by standing by the Christian faithful during the Sunday service. Such simple gestures of camaraderie speak volumes and to me signify the birth of a new Nigeria. One where the lies of the past have finally been exposed for what they are, lies.

By far the largest demographic group in the country, with about 70% of the population under the age of 35, whichever way they go, the country must surely go. They only needed to come to that realization and it looks like they finally have. Their time has come and no bullet, no senseless thugs, no method of intimidation and no divide and rule tactic can stop them. They hold the future and by God’s grace, they will arrive there.

It pleases me that people are finally waking up to the fact that we shouldn’t have to fast and pray for God to elevate one of our relatives or friends to a government position before we should hope to enjoy the good life. We can no longer wait patiently for crumbs to fall off our “benefactor’s” table. Every Nigerian, no matter where he hails from, his religion or who he knows or doesn’t know, should have high hopes of living the good life as long as he’s willing to work hard and work smart. Ask those in societies that work and they will tell you that you don’t need to be a millionaire to live a comfortable and meaningful life. You don’t have to be rich to buy a new car, give your children a good education, have peace of mind that any medical eventuality would be met without much struggle or even take your family on annual holidays; something considered a luxury by 99% of Nigerians but which Oyinbo has since realized is critical for his health and a sense of well being. It takes its place amongst the plethora of factors which determine a nation’s average life expectancy and partly explains the gap of over 25 years between that of Nigeria and that of Western Europe.

About 70% of illnesses can be linked to stress and unfortunately, we have plenty of that here. Is it the endless hours spent in traffic or the absence of constant electricity supply which makes restful sleep an impossibility for the majority? Or is it having to sleep with one eye open because of the horrendous security situation? Or the constant harassment by security forces and the agony of having to part with money that was already not enough? Stress is something we have adapted to living with but only few realize that adapting to it does nothing to minimize the damage it does to our health. Contrary to popular belief, you’re not strong or tough because you’re able to work like a jack ass without taking commensurate rest, you’re just foolish. Sooner or later one’s body will tell one that. Don’t let that be you.

Back to being rich or not rich. I will add this. In countries where leaders lead and don’t rule; where leaders respect the rights of the people to aspire to a good life; where the social contract is clear about what the people should expect of their government and what the government should in turn expect of their people that will enable them (government) fulfill their obligations, you don’t even have to be rich to own your own house. Lee Kuan Yew read his people well and concluded that a people opportuned to live in their own houses will be more patriotic and will fervently protect the stability of their society because they have too much to lose. Acutely conscious of their tangible stake in it they’ll never watch it burn.

All we need to enjoy all the above is good governance and that can only be the fall out of having leaders that care. To our most recent fallen heroes, may you rest in peace, in the knowledge that your ultimate sacrifice shall not be in vain. A grateful and mournful nation acknowledges you and says thank you.

Changing the nation…one mind at a time.

Oladapo Akande is a Surrey University (UK) English graduate with a Masters in Professional Ethics. He’s an alumnus of the National Institute for Transformation and a two time author; The Last Flight and Shifting Anchors. He writes from Lagos.

October 31, 2020
If Only

By Dapo Akande

Somebody I hold dear and admire greatly for his keen insight on life issues says something which never fails to strike me each time, because it’s an obvious truth that very few people actually see. He says, an individual who doesn’t have plans for his life runs a very high risk of being conscripted into the plans of others. And more often than not, this “other” will see him only as a means to fulfilling his own selfish agenda rather than seeing the individual as an end in himself.

Let me give you an example. The thugs our dear politicians use to cause mayhem and intimidate supporters of political rivals as elections approach, perfectly exemplify the rudderless individual who patently failed to make any plans of his own, making him an easy target to be used and abused by a smarter man.

Education serves many purposes for both the individual and the society he or she lives in. If we start listing them all now, I won’t be able to pass any other message across in this article because the list is literally endless. Some are to prepare one for his career, to bring development in all ramifications to society, to equip an individual to be able to provide for himself and live a useful life as a process which conduces holistic development of the individual, to raise solution providers and to mould the ideal citizen are just a few.

Nwagwu and Fafunwa both define it in ways I particularly like. Fafunwa avers, “education as the aggregate of the process by which a child or young adult develops the abilities, attitude and other forms of behaviour which are of positive value to the society in which he lives.” Nwagwu on the other hand defines education as, “the process used by society to preserve and upgrade the accumulated knowledge, skills and attitude of its people and foster the well being of mankind.” There are others who insist education loses its definition if it doesn’t provide the mental capacity and an interrogative mind that challenges accepted norms to prove their efficacy.

However, if we’re to come down to the basics, we may need to start by saying the primary aim of education is to furnish the individual with the ability to reason and think for himself. This forms the foundation of almost every other definition.

Returning to our “lost boys” who appear to have failed to plan, I often wonder if they’re always entirely at fault. Why would a grown man risk his life fighting for a politician who he may never meet? And for how much? Sometimes, for as little as N500 or N1000 by the time the money is shared. There are few things in life more dangerous than a man devoid of hope. He will always be the first to bring the whole house crashing down. Why care about an entity you don’t think you have a stake in? No man in his right senses will use his hands to destroy his own house.

This is the predicament our nation currently faces. With bourgeoning youth demography, accounting for about 65% of a total population of over 200m Nigerians, most of whom are unemployed and many, unemployable, we’re sitting on a ticking time bomb. But that’s not new, it’s been said before. How different things might have been though, if we people could put aside how we look and focus on what’s really important. An army where everyone wants to be a General and no one wants to be a foot soldier cannot win a single battle because it’s common knowledge Generals don’t fight, they only command and coordinate.

I wonder how different things could have been if successive governments had cast their sights in the direction of countries such as Finland who separate into two groups at the beginning of senior secondary school, those who will take matriculation exams to gain admission to university in three years time and those whose strengths obviously lie in their technical abilities. They too are prepared for several years before gaining admission to technical school. So there’s a deliberate policy to cater for both academic and vocational further education equally, without a hint of bias.

Being an egalitarian society, both University educated and technical school trained citizens can look forward to equally respectable and rewarding careers. The positive effect this must have on their students, who having acquired the ability to reason through basic education, being able to decide for themselves which path to tow so they can become their best selves is immeasurable. Equally impossible to quantify is what these options, which enable them to make viable plans during their formative years, does to boost confidence and build up self-esteem. Self esteem often comes from having hope for the future.

Education is not solely an academic enterprise but is also a moral venture. The fact that it enables self-actualization is of moral value in itself as every human being has the right to try to become the best he can possibly be. The moral benefit shouldn’t end with the individual though. It should also serve the moral purpose of raising individuals who will place the interest of their society alongside their own. Anything short of this may pass as schooling but lacks the moral foundation to be termed education.

I’ve often asked why a country like ours “blessed” with leaders in possession of multiple academic certificates is in such a state. And by leaders, I don’t mean only those in the political sphere. Our educational system needs to be critically examined so it churns out more people with ingrained leadership traits and less clever crooks who use their “cleverness” to devise increasingly ingenious ways to loot and defraud. Whenever I come across our “lost boys” I can’t help but think, “if only”.

Changing the nation…one mind at a time.

Oladapo Akande is a Surrey University (UK) English graduate with a Masters in Professional Ethics. He’s an alumnus of the National Institute for Transformation and a two time author; The Last Flight and Shifting Anchors. He writes from Lagos.

September 18, 2020