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Food for Living: #EndSARS in Nigeria
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By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is with heavy pain and burden in my heart I write this article. I didn’t plan to write about the #EndSARS movement currently trending in Nigeria and internationally, but I couldn’t help crying when I saw videos on social media on how the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) were killing, molesting, and extorting helpless Nigerians in the name of elimination crime.
It is pertinent to give a brief introduction about the origin of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The Special Anti-Robbery Squad was a Nigerian Police Force unit created in late 1992 to deal with crimes associated with robbery, motor-vehicle theft, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and firearms. It was part of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), which was headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Anthony Ogbizi.
According to sources familiar with the major reason SARS was formed was when Col. Rindam of the Nigerian Army was killed by police officers at a checkpoint in Lagos in September 1992. When the information reached the army, soldiers were dispatched into the streets of Lagos in search of any police officer. The Nigerian police withdrew from checkpoints, security areas, and other points of interest for criminals. Some police officers were said to have resigned while others fled for their lives. Due to the absence of Police men for two weeks, the crime rate increased, and SARS was formed with only 15 officers operating in the shadows without knowledge of the army while monitoring police radio chatters.
However, SARS has not lived up to expectations according to Nigerians. Instead of protecting and fighting crimes, they have resorted to going after peace-loving Nigerians who they perceive as fraudsters when they see the citizen with expensive phone, car or living a flashy lifestyle, they immediately believe he or she is a fraudster.
This menace has continued for years and the citizens were crying helplessly for help to the government of the day and to those who cared to listen, but it’s unfortunate to note that their cries fell on deaf ears.
As you may know, when people are pushed to the wall, they are bound to react. You cannot beat a child and expect him or her not to cry. That’s the state of the Nigerian youths.
Let’s be clear on this, Nigerians are clamoring for the reform of the Nigerian Police Force. The #endsars movement is a call to end police oppression and brutality in Nigeria. Looking at the internet, you’ll see Nigerians have shared both painful and heartbreaking stories and video evidence of how members of SARS engaged in kidnapping, murder, theft, rape, torture, unlawful arrest high-handedness, humiliation, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings, and extortion
On Saturday 3 October 2020, a video started trending on social media showing a SARS police officer shot a young Nigerian in front of Wetland Hotel, Ughelli, Delta State. It was alleged that the police officers took away the young man’s vehicle – a Lexus SUV. The trending video caused a public outcry on social media, especially on Twitter, with the #ENDSARS hashtag attending.
According to Martin Luther King Jnr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Nigerians felt enough is enough and started to react against the system.
This made the Nigerian youths to request five-point agenda from the Federal Government of Nigeria on October 11, 2020. The demands which were signed by ‘A Nigerian Youth’ ask for the immediate release of all arrested during the protests as well as justice and compensation for all who died through police brutality in Nigeria. They also demanded that an independent body be set up within 10 days to investigate and prosecute all reports of police misconduct. The protestors also asked for psychological evaluation and retraining of SARS operatives before they are deployed to any other police unit. Lastly, they asked for adequate remuneration for Nigerian police.
The Inspector-General of Police M.A Adamu said that a new unit, the Special Weapons, and Tactics (SWAT) would replace the SARS, but Nigerians reacted negatively saying no, it’s just a change of name, the culprits are still there.
It’s sad to note Nigerians were more scared of SARS who was supposed to protect them from criminals.
In December 2017, Segun Awosanya took up an online advocacy campaign to demand the end of SARS brutality in the country. The campaign started as a social media campaign originally started from a hashtag created by a Twitter @Letter_to_jack (tagged #EndSARS) to demand Nigeria’s government to scrap and end the deployment of SARS. The public responded well to the hashtag with people all over Nigeria posting their experiences with SARS. The campaign was reported on by international media. By mid-December, the campaign took to streets with protests occurring in Abuja, and today, the movement has grown beyond the founders.
Nigerians globally have taken advantage of the #endsars to demand good governance and accountability. Many Nigerian youths who are tired of the system, they see no plan or hope from the government. Many of them have no jobs and are tired of poor governance. They, therefore, resort to using the #endsars movement to request for a total overhaul of the system and reconstruct Nigeria especially as it relates to hiking in petrol, hike in Power Holding Corporation of Nigeran, provision of infrastructural facilities, reform in Independence National Electoral Commission, education, healthcare, security, tax, immigration. In fact, all we are asking is accountability.
As a journalist in Washington Post, Karen Attiah put it “ A country that allows state security agents to kill and abuse people with impunity is not a mature democracy.
It’s interesting to note that, Nigerians have never been united like this before. Their unity, love, purpose, and energy is so endearing. They have no clear leader. According to Professor P.L.O Lumubake, Director of Kenya School of Law “The day Nigerian wakes up, Africa will never remain the same again”. Truly, Nigerians have woken up from their slumber to possess their possession.
It’s sad to note that despite the peaceful protest by Nigerians, the police force has been seen to shoot the protesters and, in some States killed some citizens. Despite losing lives, Nigerian youths still forge ahead with the slogan, we move! They have truly shown their leaders, they are accountable to them, they are literally saying enough is enough, we say no to corruption and bad leadership, they have shown our leaders that they can no longer be neglected, treated as a second class citizens, and as such, they have forced the government of the day to dialogue with them. There have been cases of sponsored thugs who tried to disrupt the peaceful protest, but protesters were able to unite and fight back. They sent a strong message “we know our rights and can’t’ be taken for granted”.
In conclusion, I call all lovers of peace, good governance, and youths to join the #endsars movement because “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
Re-elected Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has instructed his Attorney General to withdraw the suit filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the State government’s bank account.
Adeleke disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, hours after he was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election.
Asked whether he is ready to put the political disagreements and the EFCC case behind him, the governor said he has decided to move on following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.
“I’m putting them behind. What else do I want? I have instructed my Attorney General to drop it. Mr. President has done well. He called me. What more do I want?” Adeleke said.
The governor had earlier challenged the EFCC’s decision to secure an order freezing the state government’s account, describing the move as politically motivated and disruptive to the administration’s activities.
President Tinubu subsequently directed the anti-graft agency to lift the restriction and discontinue the related legal action, following concerns over the timing of the freeze ahead of the Osun governorship election.
On allegations that some of his supporters and officials are being invited and questioned by the EFCC, Adeleke said he has directed his lawyers to provide the necessary assistance.
“Well, we have been talking. I have been calling all my lawyers to go there. I’m sure the APC in Osun, according to them, they are telling us they are using federal might,” he said.
Adeleke, however, said he does not believe President Tinubu is aware of some of the actions attributed to federal agencies.
“Most of these things, the President doesn’t know. The President has a lot of foreign work and jobs to do,” he said.
According to the governor, some of his aides were invited by the EFCC for questioning but were released after no wrongdoing was established.
“I told my people, go there. We haven’t got anything to hide. And when they go there, they ask them questions, and then they will say, ‘Go on.’ Can you imagine my spokesperson? You are inviting my spokesperson – is my spokesperson a finance minister or accountant?” Adeleke asked.
He described the invitations as a distraction and alleged that former Osun State governor Gboyega Oyetola was behind the development because of his relationship with President Tinubu.
“All these things is Oyetola because he is the cousin to the President. He is dropping the President’s name. I know that the President didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it,” Adeleke said.
The EFCC froze an Osun State Government bank account earlier in August as part of an investigation into the alleged handling of about ₦11 billion in Ecology Funds, intervention funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds.
The commission said it had detected suspicious movements of funds and restricted the account to prevent further transfers while its investigation continued.
The development triggered a dispute between the commission and the Adeleke administration, with the governor describing the action as politically motivated and taking the EFCC to court.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to return to court to vacate the freezing order and discontinue the related action, saying the timing could create the impression that a federal agency was being used to interfere with the election.
Adeleke secured a second term as Osun State governor, winning 511,067 votes against APC’s Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815. ADC’s Najeem Salaam came third with 17,180 votes. Adeleke won 19 of the state’s 30 LGAs, while Oyebamiji won 11.
Following his victory, Adeleke described the result as a triumph for democracy and pledged to transform Osun into an industrial hub.
He also called for unity, saying there was “no victor, no vanquished.”
His re-election sparked celebrations across the state, particularly in Osogbo and his hometown, Ede, with his nephew Davido also celebrating on social media.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has resumed the upload of results from the Osun State governorship election to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV), with more than 92.53 per cent of polling unit results now available on the platform.
Tribune Online reports that 3,482 results had been uploaded out of the 3,763 polling units across the state, representing 92.53 per cent of the total results expected on the portal.
Concerns were earlier raised after result uploads on the IReV portal appeared to stall for about three hours.
The delay triggered reactions from several social media users, including Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, who questioned the halt in the upload process.
In a post on X, he wrote, “INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable Why has the uploading stopped?@inecnigeria
Another X user, @mundus01 tweeted, “Osun IReV uploads have been stalled for over 2 hours. The last result was published at 8:48:08 p.m. The portal is online, but no new results are appearing. @inecnigeria, what is happening? This doesn’t look good.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Last week, we laid the foundation of loving what you do. We discussed loving the topic as it relates to family, career, health, relationship, personal development, purpose and spirituality. Today, we shall be focusing on how loving what you do can be a game changer.
It’s instructive to note that in the dictionary of life; when you love what you do and what you do loves you, you are destined for not only success, but also greatness. One may be wondering how this works. Trust me, it is difficult to succeed in a major, or profession one doesn’t like.
The journey of life can be challenging, stressful and unpredictable. When one is trying to set up a business, there’s bound to be setbacks maybe due to a new policy or meeting up with the requirement, there could challenges of funds; in academics, if one choose a major one likes, despite the associating challenges that may arise, one will still manage to pull through because he that is in him is greater and stronger than he that is in the world.
Also, in relationships and marriage, if one values friendship, they won’t allow their ego to have influence over them. Rather, they will invest time and resources in the relationship. That’s why it’s always good to place values above physical features in a human body when it comes to settling down for marriage because at the end of the day, the human body features can fade away, but values and friendship will not fade away, rather, it will serve as the binding factor that keeps the relationship.
One’s career is not an exception; one can tell who likes their job and one who doesn’t like their job. In workplaces, if one is happy at work, they tend to put in extra hours to get the job done. But when they are not happy with the job, they’ll do the bare minimum just to get through.
Let’s spend a minute to understand how loving what one does can be a game changer in one’s life. Just imagine, one is inspired to write a book, there will be challenges, however, it is the inspiration and determination of the person that will determine if they will finish strong. But if they are inspired by the wrong source, they might finish weak. Here is the gist, it is your desire to succeed that will outweigh your fear of failure.
Again, imagine a scenario where one is starting a business but has no resources and structure behind him. The fact is that if the person loves what he’s doing, it will be hard for the person to give up because their force is internal. I can vividly remember when I was working on my first, second and third book, I had many reasons to quit, but I refused because I love the work I was producing.
Furthermore, when you love what you do, you’ll endeavor to learn something new in addition to spending quality time to improve the work. I say this because rational minds don’t invest time and resources in what they don’t like. There’s a saying, if you want to know a man, give money, women and power. One of them would like to subdue him, but if he’s able to overcome them, he is a man.
This principle of loving what you do cuts across all facets of life whether we are taking care of families, academics, religion purpose, health, career, finance and even spiritual life. For families a man/woman who is intentional in building their family, must love their family and loving their family intends sacrificing for the family.
For health, if one loves their health, they won’t take harmful substances, just because they love their health; they will be intentional in exercising, and in doing so, they must love exercising. For finance, an intentional person must spend time learning about stock, budgeting and investment. These are avenues to show that they have interest in growing their income. Even in spiritual life, when one shows interest in loving God in truth and spirit, God has a way of coming through for them because they have been tested and trusted. This is simply how life works. Even in relationships if one loves their partner, there’s a high probability they would like to invest time and resources into that relationship.
In summary, endeavor to love what you do because there’s a certain level of spiritual strength, blessings and corresponding opportunities that’s associated with success, when one loves what they do. This is basically how life works.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, Unleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
