What Next For The End Sars Protests?
The End Sars protest was an organic protest organised by for the most part young educated Nigerian youth who decided to get off their phones and keep distractions aside to call for good structure within the police force.
Most people keep making assumptions and analysing from the outside but one cannot truly understand everything except one actually marched the march and tweeted or retweeted tweets on any social media platform towards the protest.
What actually fueled the End Sars Protests? To be honest, I feel it was fueled by anger and frustration at the lack of youth inclusion in aspects of Nigeria's growing economy. Most of the youth I personally had interactions with during these protests spoke one language, the language of anger which was why after every attack by the government, the numbers kept increasing.
The more they provoked the youths, the more we got angry, tired and frustrated, the more our anger pushed us out unto the streets. Now, let me make it clear to most adults who think the youth did not carefully plan for the protests and blame the casualties on inadequate planning - protests as organic as this are never planned, they just happen. For protests as organic as this, whatever affect the protests is usually determined by responses to the protests set out demands.
Not only was the government slow to these demands, they were also "shady" about it. They went on the TV saying "A" and came at us with the intent to kill, in fact they killed people so how then could we take what the government said as fact - the distrust in the government was very much there.
Anyway, this is not why I am writing this article today. The question now is what next, what is the next line of action for the End Sars protesters? Well, majority of the Nigerian youth are very much in mourning over the massacre of our brothers and sisters on the night of 20-10-20 at the Lekki Toll Gate.
Some of the youth have gone into depression while some are getting counselling for their mental health. Majorly all protesters have withdrawn from the streets while Nigerians in Diaspora have taken to the forefront of these demonstrations on our behalf making walks to the several Nigerian offices abroad.
The End Sars protesters are strategizing for the upcoming elections in 2023 and are using this period to pick up after their losses while still lending their voices to the cause online and working towards coming back stronger in 2023 with youth parties that will see to it that the youth are included in government and the light for a better Nigeria starts to shine.
Please Note: Whoever is currently causing destruction on the streets of Lagos and other parts of Nigeria are not End Sars protesters, they are rouge thugs gone loose and we the majority of the youth of Nigeria do not endorse their methods of engagement.