Unsolicited, alternative food for thought thread as we continue with the protests both online and offline. Please don’t see this as an opportunity to argue - just reflect and do with it what you may.

THREAD.

It’s important to ALWAYS keep the big picture in mind. The enemy here is not any individual character, but police brutality enabled by a repressive system and the vested interests who want to keep things dysfunctional, at our peril.

Everyday, there seems to be heated attacks on various individuals in the polity, both at home and abroad. They are not your real enemy. The incompetent government and the system are.

Focus.

A lot of us have directed sustained attacks on figures who haven’t protested exactly how we expect them to. We all bantered Burna here last week, as an example.

But it seems we’re getting distracted with seeking out such people everyday to “drag”. Again - focus.

Another theme I’ve seen recently is folks talking about how “BLM people are quiet”. Who exactly are “BLM people”? Are you white?

There’s a whole conversation to be had here, but understand this - actions are driven by interests and you should argue for “ideals” not “sides”.

It is worth allying with figures who have expressed genuine interest and conviction in your cause, and moving forward with THE CAUSE squarely in mind. Not coercing persons into perfunctory participation for fear of being “dragged”.

You’ll never have everybody on “your side”.

Don’t reduce everything to an “us vs them” stance or every argument into a stark “for or against” dichotomy. We all have our various interests as human beings and that’s okay. That is life, regardless of how anybody feels.

If you’re with me, fine. If you’re not, cool.

Still on this and to help us self-reflect, our brothers and sisters in DRC have suffered repression for decades - how many of us have campaigned for them? Yemen, Syria etc have seen the worst humanitarian crises in history. How many lent their voices? Why? Are we “bad people”?

The people who are ACCOUNTABLE to us, or should be, are the elected officials - the clowns in Abuja and state houses. They have their vested interests too and that’s why they haven’t responded how we expect them to. But we employ them, so the fight is against them.

With the little I know, I’ve discussed privately with persons on the complexity of the situation and why this is not a one day fight - not even a ten year one. When Rotimi Amaechi said “hopeless and helpless”, Omo it wasn’t a joke o.

But let’s stay optimistic.

Massive respect to all the fine folks who have been fighting on the frontlines, the advocacy groups, lawyers, doctors, vendors and brands who have shed sweat and blood for the cause. Thank you. Some of us have only been typing on Twitter (myself included). It’s not the same.

I’ve read commentary from figures like Pastor Sam, Naija Flying Doctor and the now-loathed Segalink. A common thread I’ve picked up is around ‘pacing’ and organizing better to drive change.

Beyond the protests, advocacy, strategic engagement and dialogue is critical.

Think of the Arab Spring and whether it was successful from the lens of what it sought to achieve. Regimes did change, but the necessary structural reforms weren’t in place - this naturally led to what is known today as the Arab Winter - a spate of instability and violence.

I’ve seen commentary around “we have no leader” and outright rejection of opportunities to engage the authorities strategically. This is very understandable considering how our people are - before you know it, deals are cut and figures boycott the cause, for personal interests.

But there has to be some structured engagement. There just has to be. How that will happen, I don’t know.

One thing I know Sega and other figures have been doing for years is engaging strategically for structural police reforms. Little gains may have been made here and there, but you know the country you live in.

That is the kind of engagement that can lead to lasting solutions.

Recent events (which a lot of us don’t fully understand) and apparent disagreements around movement or protest ‘figureheads’ have made him a loathed figure in many online circles. He’s also made incendiary comments lately and this is one of those distractions.

But broadly speaking, I think we need figures who have a solid grasp of the issues, gravitas, a heart for the masses void of selfish pretensions, and a good degree of ‘even-keeledness’ to engage govt actively for these reforms. Like I said earlier, it’s not a one day thing.

We saw how clueless Davido sounded when he said they asked him to set up “an independent panel to oversee retraining of SARS”.

He means well, but doesn’t understand the issues and can’t negotiate strategically on these matters. A lot of public figures are in the same boat.

The civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s wasn’t just protests on the streets. You had activist organizations, prominent individuals, lawyers, academics etc engaging constructively with the Govt until they got some of the outcomes they sought.

That part cannot be left out.

Anyway, after all this “big big English”, our people just want to stay alive and our elected officials are wicked and incompetent.

That’s why there’s little appetite to talk or dialogue. So this leaves us with a dilemma. The answers to which, I don’t have.

I’ll leave this thread open so I can add any other thoughts as they come.

For now, cheers and big thanks again to everyone who has lent their voice, sweat and resources both online and offline. #EndSARS #EndSWAT #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria #SARSMUSTEND