EndSARS Protest: Before You Burn Down That Property Or Attack That Uniform Person, Answer This All Important Question First ll Coneri Magazine

EndSARS Protest: Before You Burn Down That Property Or Attack That Uniform Person, Answer This All Important Question First ll Coneri Magazine  

By Eriacy Confidence Oba 

Publisher of Coneri Magazine.

Fellow Nigerians, Let's reason together. 

 The Lekki Tollgate Genocide is one out of many cases of the Government's flex of muscle against defenceless and peaceful Nigerians using the security agents and this is the reason some of the youths are angry and are fighting for themselves, by launching attacks on security operatives and destroying properties to drive home their point. With the people employed to defend them suddenly becoming their attackers, coupled with years of frustration as a result of bad governance, insecurities, nepotism, unemployment, hardships, poverty and corruption, no would completely crucify the youths if they decide to take any action to end the madness. Most youths want revenge for the killings in Lagos and other parts of the country especially in the south. They want to vent their anger on the security operatives, on the infrastructures of government and politicians. It is however not a crime to be angry after all, the politicians have not been able to prove themselves not guilty. But should we because of anger shoot ourselves in the foot? 

Most of the public infrastructures that have been destroyed or that some of our youths are destroying now were built with our sweats, I mean with tax payers money and if we destroy them today for whatever reason, in the future, they will still use our collective wealth to renovate or build new ones. 

The truth is, most of our politicians have four, eight, sixteen or at most twenty years to spend in Government. These set of politicians will do anything to provoke us into destroying these properties before they leave office. Renovating or building a new one is another pipeline for siphoning our country's wealth. Even when they leave office, it is still our wealth that the subsequent administrations will deploy to renovating these infrastructures. So when we destroy police stations, secretariats, schools, vehicles and other properties of government, we are not actually punishing the politicians for their crimes but destroying our wealth. For instance, when we vandalize school buildings in the name of punishing the government, we are the ones loosing. It is our children that attend such schools in the country.  The children of most of the politicians school abroad. 

Similarly, most of the junior officers in the military and paramilitary who are used to do the hatchet job are children of ordinary Nigerians. Of course, you know they cannot possibly send their children to do security jobs. When we go about attacking and killing everyone in uniform because of the experiences we have had with some bad security operatives, we are indirectly attacking ourselves, our brothers and sisters and reducing the strength of the masses while they meet abroad and share glasses of drink. Besides, as youths that want to make a difference, we should not take laws into our hands. I appreciate every youth who has been on the streets, on social media and other platforms lending his or her tiny voice to the emergence of a new Nigeria. Indeed, we have collectively made a loud statement and it will continue to speak for us. But we must apply caution, end the violence and seek the option of dialogue. That's the most democratic thing to do at this critical point in time. 

Yet we must not stop speaking against oppression and bad governance. 

Let's speak for all Nigerians, both the unarmed protesters and the sincere security agents for the fact that they are Nigerians. The lives of all Nigerians matter.

Our voices are bullets. We must put them to action to kill corruption and bad governance in Nigeria. 

This is the only way to realize the new Nigeria. 

#EndTheViolence

#OptForDialogue

Oba, Eriacy Confidence 

#ConeriMagazine

#SNPF