What Next After The Protest?- The Gatekeeper Strategy & Other Ideas -1

Dear Young People,

Many of you are disillusioned right now. For some, hope has given way to despair. What you thought was an emerging light at the end of the tunnel now looks like a mirage.

You’re despondent because of the energy dissipated. It’s like a bad ending to a movie you thought was properly scripted. The violence the nation is now grappling with is an unfortunate turn of events and stands roundly condemned.

Nothing progressive can be achieved through violence as you can’t build by tearing down. We all must stand against this violence and make all efforts to douse the tension all over the country.

Maybe some of you can spot the mistakes made or certain things that could have been done better. Learn the lessons and move on. Right now, it’s time to organize rather than agonize.

Let me tell a story that happened between 15th to 21st of October 1945- exactly 75 years ago. A true life story.

In Manchester, a meeting took place in 1945. It was called The Manchester Pan-African Congress. 90 delegates including 26 Africans- most of them activists-gathered in a small hotel room to discuss about Africa's future.

Present at the Conference were Obafemi Awolowo, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Hastings Banda, Peter Abrahams, Jaja Wachukwu, the widow of Marcus Garvey and others

At the time of the Manchester Conference, Awolowo was 36. Kwame Nkrumah was 36. Jaja Wachukwu was 27. Hastings Banda was 47. Jomo Kenyatta was one of the oldest at 54.

During the conference, something was ignited in the hearts of the attendees. Subsequently, a fire of revolution spread across Africa with nations granted independence from colonialism.

In less than 15 years after the conference, Jomo Kenyatta became President of Kenya. Hastings 'Kamuzu' Banda became President of Malawi. Kwame Nkrumah became the President of Ghana. Obafemi Awolowo became the Premier of Western Region and later Opposition Leader in Nigeria.

Jaja Nwachukwu became the first Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria and its first Minister of Foreign Affairs. 1945 was a turning point just like I believe 2020 is also one. It’s not a coincidence that both events happened in October.

We will know the impact of the October 2020 protests in a few years. So, please be encouraged.

One thing I’m happy about is that it seems the average Nigerian youth now has a brain reset. Their minds have been restored to factory settings. There is a general mental detoxification going on. What has happened is a revolution of the mind.

While others are carrying the destiny of their nations, you shouldn’t be carrying the bags of politicians.

So where do you go from here? What is next? I have a few suggestions which I will share in the next post.

To be continued

Bayo Adeyinka

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