ENDSARS: TWO GENERATIONS CLASH OVER CONTROL OF ONE NATION
By: Oluwatobi Ibironke
Tags: Government, Nigeria, Politics, Endsars, Youth

ENDSARS: TWO GENERATIONS CLASH OVER CONTROL OF ONE NATION

A collage showing the icons of the two clashing generations — Falz for the youths; President Muhammadu Buhari for the elderly.

The ENDSARS protest revealed, among other discoveries, the stark disparity between the views of the old and the ideas of young Nigerians about nation-building. The old guard is desperate to maintain the status quo; everybody else wants to pull down the system for rebuilding.

The London School of Economics and Science believes only 1 per cent of the elected officeholders in the country are youths. The President, an ex-military leader with a political life of about two decades, is 78; the leading opposition, a two-term former Vice President and ex-boss of the Nigerian Customs Service, has been running for president since 1993; the ministerial cabinet has no under-35 member; less than 7 per cent youth representation in the House of Assemblies — 6.09 per cent of the 991 occupants of seats across the 36 State House of Assemblies — is young.

The underrepresentation of the youths in government is only a part of the problem. Despite the weight of the electoral power of the youths, they have consistently failed to secure their interest in the running of the country. Nigerian youths, constituting over 67 per cent of registered voters, hold the power to swing elections to their favour. These youth bear most of the impact of the government’s failures, particularly failures in the areas of economics and insecurity.

More than half the number of employable Nigerians, 55.7 per cent, most of who are youths, are either unemployed or underemployed. The problem of insecurity in Nigeria isn’t limited to terrorism — an area where the country accounts for 13 per cent of the global terrorism-related deaths in 2018. Young Nigerians live in fear of becoming victims of assault, torture, extortion, and unlawful killings in the hands of the officers who swore under oaths to protect them. That is why hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians took to the streets and Twitter during the protest.

The solution appears to be simple: old leaders have to go and a new crop is to emerge. However, the subject of government failure in Nigeria transcends politics between generations. The history of governance in the country is littered with evidence of failures to evolve past old-fashioned ideas such as choosing intimidation over taking responsibility as the strategy to resolve legitimate demonstrations.

No government without a sense of responsibility can deliver the goods of governance to its people, whether old or youthful. This is why Nigerian governments have consistently failed to meet the needs of its people. In the case of the ENDSARS protest, Nigerian youths demand protection of their basic rights, accountability, and enabling platforms for their dreams. The Buhari-led government, with its handling of the crisis, offers no reason to trust in its leadership to deliver on the demands, despite the sweet promises of swift action.

A picture showing highlighting the event of 20.10.2020

The emerging truths about the controversial incident, which occurred at Lekki toll gate on October 20 2020, cancel out the promises of the government and confirms the agitation of youths. The army and the Lagos state government have come out, in conflicting accounts, to confirm the shooting at the site, despite initially jointly to deny the incident. But none of the government arms shows a willingness to take responsibility for the shooting.

While the state government appears to be cautious in its attempt to absolve itself of the blame, the federal government continues to use bullish tactics against the leading figures of the protest. The Lekki incident exposes the security coordination problem between the Federal government, the state government, and the army. That none of these parties is taking responsibility for the killings is proof that the protesters’ claims are right: injustice is an everyday business in Nigeria.

Interestingly, the protest presented the demonstrators a platform to show their idea of a working Nigeria. The running of the protest, before the hijack, epitomizes missing but needed qualities in Nigerian politics: accountability, equality, religious and ethnic tolerance, and innovativeness. The protesters set up an enginery for mobilizing, financing, and servicing the legal needs of the movement using digital technology and people energy. With this enginery, they brought the attention of the world to the unchecked injustice happening in the country. This alone gives a glimpse of what Nigeria would look like with the right people in government.

A mural showing the values of the Feminist Coalition

The outcome of the brewing clash between veteran Nigerian politicians and the new crop would determine the future of the nation. Would Nigeria remain a bedlam in the hands of the old guards or would the nation tilt towards fresh energies? These are questions up for Nigerians to answer as the fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Oluwatobi Ibironke is a Nigerian writer and critic.