#EndSars Protests: How Social media Has Given Us a Faceless Leader.
‘History is storytelling.’
Yaa Gyasi
There was first confusion, indecision and then a thousand and one questions running through my mind as I got to the venue of the protest. Had I done the right thing? Did I belong there? I did not know anyone here, so where will I run to if it turns into a riot? Also, do I trust everyone here to remain on track and not cause a distraction? And most importantly, was I angry enough to participate in this protest? Was I rightly motivated to be a part of something this massive? This was my first ever protest so I wanted it to feel right.
I followed the ongoing George Floyd protest which began in May 2020 in the United States where black people marched against racial police brutality after the unjust killing of George Floyd. George Floyd was an unarmed black man who was strangled to death after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck after he was already handcuffed and lying face down. This act was caught on camera and shared on social media fuelling anger and rage amongst black people and so they took to the streets to protest as part of the Black Lives Matter racial movement.
On the 3rd of October 2020, a video of some officers of the ‘notorious’ Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS), surfaced on social media where they shot a young man to death at a hotel in Delta State and fled with his car. SARS is a unit of the Nigerian Police Force designated to fight armed robbery, but are infamous for extortion, harassment and even carrying out extrajudicial killings. This sparked peaceful protests across the country with Nigerian youths who went to the streets with placards, cardboards, agitated over the injustice and oppression perpetrated by SARS. We had been silent for too long.
I grew up knowing protests to be a way to demand effective change, but I had no faith that the ability to encourage any ‘real change’ in Nigeria as I was well aware that Nigerian leaders have a reputation for getting their way, so any action that was perceived as a disruption to their daily lives was seen as nothing short of a nuisance that can be handled when they agree on a ‘settlement’ with the leader of the movement. But this time, they were facing a generation of young people who are protesting to put an end to an oppressive system with no leader, spokesperson or convener. For once, the people came together to make a collective decision and have so far proven to be unstoppable.
Millennials and the Gen Z generation in Nigeria are mockingly addressed as the ‘pressing phone generation’ by the older generation who often accuse us of spending too much time on social media. It was via this same social media that plans for the peaceful protests across the Nation were made using Twitter, which so far has led to the donation of millions of naira to support the welfare of the protesters, pay for the legal fees of those arrested and cover other expenses that have been incurred in the duration of this protest through the Feminist Coalition. Nigerians and foreigners who have visited Nigeria took to Twitter to share their stories of harassment by SARS and extortion using the #EndSARS which trended worldwide with over 3.2 million tweets. Other hashtags used were #EndSarsNow, #SARSMustEnd, #SARSMustGo, #EndPoliceBrutality and #EndSARSBrutality which drew the attention of the CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who tweeted the #EndSARS with links to the Feminist Coalition funding and shortly after, announced a customized emoji for #EndSARS in solidarity with Nigerian youths.
Protesters also gathered support from international celebrities like Trey Songz, Drake, Kanye West, Mezut Ozil, Pogba, Chris Brown and organizations who lent their voices in support of the protest. We saw Nigerians like never before, looking out for each other, returning lost items at the venue of the protest, organizing food, water, masks, ambulances for the injured and unwell, and rendering legal aid to all unlawfully arrested protesters. The protesters even went ahead to provide private security for the protesters after a video was shared showing as police officers watched as hoodlums attacked peaceful protesters with machetes, clubs, and sticks after being paid N1,500 by unknown people to disrupt the protests as confirmed in this tweet below.
A New Democracy
Last Friday, space was created for the Muslim protesters to observe their Juma’at at the venue of the protests and at that moment, I realized that we had been sold religious disputes and tribalism as a means to create division and sow a seed of discord amongst the younger generation for so long and this was our time, we were taking back all that has been taken for us and creating new ideals that promote the era of a renewed Nigeria that we deserve. One that isn’t driven by conflict, where everyone looks out for one another without looking for any personal benefit. It was a very proud moment for me.
Considering that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world yet has one of the highest paid lawmakers in the world who have been severally caught sleeping during sittings, receive ridiculous remunerations like hardship allowance that run into millions of naira, it was quite irresponsible and callous for them to take a very long time to deliberate in the house before they increased the minimum wage to N30,000, which is only about 0.01% of their monthly allowances.
There have been calls by several panels and committees set up by the government to provide a leader or convener of the #EndSARS protests or to provide a representative with whom they can liaise with and Nigerian youths’ response to that was ‘we have no leader’. We demanded that they address the entire nation in a live broadcast when they are ready to strategize and come to agree to the terms that we have stated. The collective need and desire to fully come to an understanding of the power that exists with having one voice is an ideology that the older generation of leaders cannot fathom, as they had earlier planned to use the act of coercion, play the ‘respectability politics’ game and possibly threats to intimidate the ‘leader’ into calling for an end to the protests.
The Effect of Social media ‘dragging’ in the Demand for Accountability
As the world witnesses the Nigerian government’s dormant response to the peaceful protests and its lack of capacity to control the now rogue SARS, it has now embarked on a sympathy feast as we saw governors and ex-lawmakers trying to align with the protesters, in a bid to not get ‘dragged’ and trolled on social media by young Nigerians. The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, in a tweet shared 24 hours before the protest banned peaceful protests in his state but was later seen addressing the protesters on the atrocities of SARS, after he was called out by Nigerian youths in numerous tweets, for interfering with the citizens’ power to carry out their constitutional rights. The governor of Lagos state, Jide Sanwo-Olu, was also made to take faster action after he was equally ‘dragged’ on Twitter for not taking any tangible action regarding the deaths which occurred at the Surulere protests. This led to his meeting with the president in less than 24 hours to inform him of the demands of the #EndSARS protesters.
Social media has allowed us to demand accountability from our government officials without fear or intimidation, granted us the liberty to express our opinions, garner support and even plan an entire protest without having to have met each other in person. For this to happen, certain people who have been at the forefront of this movement like Aisha Yesufu; an activist, Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana; a musician, Mr. Macaroni; a comedian and social media influencer, Rinu Oduala, Ogbeni Dipo, Moe Odele, Adetolaov, Kiki Mordi, Tife Soloye, Feyikemi Abudu, Chef Obubu and Imoteda for ensuring that the protesters were well-fed, members of the Feminist Coalition and others all have a track record of credibility, excellence and an impressive reputation that thousands of people can trust and rely on, having met through social media, even without seeing them in person.
The position in the call for a leader for the #EndSARS protest was simple; we are all leaders and the government is accountable to us, the taxpayers who fund this country’s existence. We also do not practice classism in this new era so no one is superior to the other. We stand in solidarity and will continue to match onward until we start to see substantive actions that are expected of those who occupy certain positions of power.
To Jimoh Isiaq. To all those who lost their lives during the course of this protest, we are so sorry that this country failed you once again. We will fight and ensure that your death will not be in vain and that you get the justice you deserve. Oke Obi-Enadhuze was a young, budding product designer whose life was caught shortly after he was stabbed by hoodlums during a raid after the protests. In his last tweet, he wrote ‘Nigeria will not end me’ and Nigeria did indeed end him. He fought to protect his family when his home was raided and in the process, they lost him and every other thing. There’s a fundraiser to assist the family recover from this hard time, kindly render your support if you can. Thank you. Donate here.
