1./ #EndSARS is probably the single most amazing phenomenon to come out of Nigeria since God knows when.

It began as a movement of the youth, gained traction& older people joined up.

The frontline organizers are women of FeministCo. Yet for once gender wars took a backseat.

2./ Misogyny, misandry and patriarchy were not on the front-burner. Everyone pitched in.

The religious divides took a backseat. The tribal sentiments were not given even a 3-legged stool to perch upon. Unfortunately as is its wont in life, shit happens.

3./The government, not totally unexpectedly got nervous about the traction the movement was gaining & muscled its way in to suppress the protests by military intervention.

Protesters are mere flesh and blood. In the face of such superior and sustained firepower the wolf (a.k.a)

4./ the government scattered the flock. Lives were lost, many were injured. To cap it all, government denies that these things happened. Are we in a twilight zone? Are we losing our minds?

But the most dangerous fallout of the frustration of #EndSARS by the government

5./ is the risk of implosion. In the past 24 to 48 hours, the ever -present little foxes which spoil the vine have begun to rear their heads.

a. Gender wars
b. Tribal divides
c. Us Vs. Them; youth against the old.

Prior to #EndSARS and indeed at its peak,

6./ the rhetoric was already gaining traction.
“We won’t be silent like our parents.”
“We won’t be complacent like the older generation.”
“We’re going to wrestle this monster to the ground.”

These ideals are commendable unfortunately they are built on a false premise.

7./ One which suggests that the parents sat with folded arms and watched things deteriorate to this point.

Far from that. Let’s look around us. The rot we live with didn’t happen overnight. It’s a long-term damage. These silent parents haven’t always been silent.

8./ They didn’t simply fold their arms and watch things go awry. Au contraire, many of the placid middle-aged men and women we love to disdain were firebrands in their day. Leading and participating in protests and demonstrations against misgovernance and system failures.

9./ Unfortunately they learned the hard way of the pain of failure& betrayal. From within& without. Some stood strong, some bent to the pressure & some decided to bow out and strive to make their little corners of life liveable.

As we watch the divides rearing their ugly heads,

10./ it calls forth memories of the reasons for past failures. There’s no movement so strong that it cannot fail. To be carried away on a wave of the euphoria of success and imagine that the movement is impervious to the usual human weaknesses is the first step to failure.

11./ We are not and will never be a homogeneous society. The differences and the divides will always be there. The trick is to maintain a big picture view. To remember that despite these differences that the movement arose because the common shoe we wear was pinching us all.

12./ So we decided to compel the cobbler to make better shoes.

The war is to compel the cobbler to make better shoes. When that is won, smaller skirmishes such as the colour, design etc. of the shoes may then be resolved.

13./ But we must keep our eyes on the ball. To do less will certainly assure of failure even before the war takes off. If that is allowed to happen, another generation will arise to repeat the mantra;

“We won’t be quiet like our parents and grandparents.”

14./ “My parents chanted up NEPA and now my children do the same.”

Let’s win this now. Break the cycle. You have the power.

#EndSars