The real reasons behind the Soro Soke generation's #EndSARS protests, and more…

Let me state it categorically for those who still don’t get it, especially those who asked “why are you still protesting after SARS was renamed SWAT?", that the protests are not so much about the police brutality or ending the criminalities of the police squad called SARS as they are about changing the nation.

‘END SARS’ is only a euphemism for “end bad governance”. It is a calling out of the failure of those so-called leaders who have remained in power to destroy our commonwealth and our future. It is a pure metaphor for youth unemployment, corruption, our dysfunctional and nepotistic system and all the other ills plaguing our country.

Statistics about the unfortunate reality of the Nigerian situation. According to the recently released unemployment data report published by the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate as at the second quarter of 2020 is 27.1% indicating that over 43 million Nigerians (out of an estimated 200 million) remain unemployed. This figure was 23.1% as at Q3 of 2018, showing an increase of 4%.

The NBS data further reveals that Nigeria’s youth population remain the hardest hit by unemployment with over 13.9 million people aged between 15 and 34 years currently unemployed. Women also continue to bear the brunt of our bad economy with about 12.2 million out of jobs from the 27 million currently unemployed. Graduates and postgraduates combined made up about 2.9 million of the total Nigerians that are unemployed.

What about the education system? At all levels, Nigeria’s educational system faces infrastructural decay, neglect, waste of resources and poor conditions of service for workers. We rank number one in the world with over 10 million out-of-school children. A further 27 million children in school are performing very poorly while millions of Nigerians are half-educated. Over 60 million – or 30% – are illiterates.

One of the most prominent issues in our education are the endless battles between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal government. Both parties seem keen to perpetually frustrate the youth: one party refuses to meet its obligations while the other embarks on incessant industrial strike actions without considering the future of those affected. As a result, it is difficult to spend the exact number of years required for a degree in a public Nigerian university. Strikes would always top it up.

The ASSU strike issue is enough fodder for youth anger. Let me try and break it down. ASUU strikes began in 1999 during the government of Olusegun Obasanjo. It lasted five months before it was called off, only to resume in 2001 for three months. It happened again in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 and now in 2020. There is no end in sight for the current one.

The health sector fares arguably worse. Despite Nigerian's “giant of Africa” tag, our health is suffering. Every aspect (health centres, personnel, and medical equipment) is inadequate, especially in rural areas. Our doctor-patient ratio is alarming because medical professionals keep leaving Nigeria since the system frustrates their dreams.

Almost every time on social media, we are either crowdfunding a cancer patient without funds for medical bills or someone in desperate need of medical care for an illness that cannot be treated in Nigeria. In the midst of all these, pour politicians travel overseas to get the best medical care. We crowdfund for fellow young Nigerians to acquire better education abroad since our schools are nothing to write home about. We pay for courses online after graduating because our curriculum is not in sync with global best practice. Meanwhile, politicians’ children study at the best schools overseas.

Despite the youth taking over the responsibilities of the government, we have to still fight for our life because the same government, through the Nigerian police, has been brutalizing us and killing us. Our crime is simply wanting a better life. Are these not enough reasons to storm the street of Nigeria and call out the government? Are youths not justified to shout #EndSARS in the face of all these?

It is clear to me that the government has met the peaceful protests with violence and deaf ears because they are surprised by how well we have fared despite the limiting system they built for us. They are surprised we gained so much education despite the poor educational system. They are also surprised we can buy expensive phones, clothes, and look good when all they have done is to cut our wings and make sure we cannot fly. They call us YAHOO BOYS (internet fraudsters) because, to them, nobody placed in a system like Nigeria’s can make it legitimately.

The government’s mistake is that they fail to recognize that we are a ‘global youth’ generation. We are the Soro Soke! generation: we are not limited in any way. We are a generation that stands for justice and what is right. We want to hold our own future in our own hands and we won’t settle for less.

#EndSARS is not over yet. The government will hear from the Soro Soke! generation in the coming days and years. We have not gone back to sleep.

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About the author: Victor Ejechi is the Media and Communications Lead at StatiSense Consult Limited.