THE BLOODSHED IN NIGERIA

THE BLOODSHED IN NIGERIA

Nigeria is a killing field.

Human life is cheaper than the lives of the flies that feed on the bodies of the citizens of the country slaughtered by the very security forces trained and paid to defend them.

The youths of Nigeria have taken to the streets and are demanding an end to the senseless taking of innocent lives by national “security” forces.

These youths must not allow anybody to hijack their activism and silence their voices.

We were here before, but the voices of the people were hijacked and silenced.

On January 5, 2020, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, governor of Kano State appointed Isa Yunusa Danguguwa as his special adviser on labor.

Exactly eight years before the date, on January 2, 2012, during the nationwide fuel subsidy protests in Nigeria, the then Comrade Isa Yunusa Danguguwa was chairman of the Kano chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

Along with other labor union leaders in Nigeria, Comrade Danguguwa was instrumental in quelling the protests that threatened to cause a revolution in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Labour Congress leadership was, in Naija lingo, “settled.”

The people of Nigeria were disappointed that the NLC called off the strikes, terminating what promised to be a big opportunity to reform the corruption in the NNPC, the body seating on oil money in Nigeria.

Oil is the root of corruption and all evils in Nigeria.

Now, Nigeria has erupted into another nationwide protest, this time as the youths are protesting police brutality.

The attempt by the police to repress the protest has been swift and brutal. Hundreds of videos of police officers wantonly murdering these young people peacefully protesting in Nigeria have gone viral.

Will the youths allow the NLC or any other “leaders” to hijack their voices as they demand an end to police brutality?

One hopes not.

Will the youths seize the opportunity to ask for all the other things they need from Nigeria?

One hopes so.

The elders of Nigeria have robbed the youths of their present and their future.

The young people should not stop protesting until they demand the following necessities from those looting the oil revenues that belong to the entire nation:

1. Free education from primary school through university.

2. Free universal healthcare.

3. Employment for the nearly 60 percent of jobless young people.

4. Security to move freely throughout the country.

5. A change to the present wasteful political structure.

6. An end to the endemic culture of the blind, deaf, dumb, stinking rich, and corrupt politicians.

7. Total restructuring of the centralized government into a federalist political system and regional autonomy.

8. An end to police brutality, of course.

9. A government that is accountable to the people.

10. An industrial revolution powered by the constant availability of electricity, pipe-borne water, and a good transportation system.

If all of these demands are not met, the youths should request for the total dissolution of Nigeria and should continue on their protests.

The entire world is watching and cheering you on as you protest to end the bloodshed in Nigeria.