How Significant Is October 20, 2020?

Today is kind of solemn, not in all parts of the country, but mostly in parts of the Southwest, especially Lagos. It's a day of remembrance. The hearts of youths still ache and break over the distressing events that took place the same day, last year — October 20th, 2020.

This event was one that called into question the rights of youths to speak out and be heard. When a circumstance or situation becomes uncomfortable, what do you do? The natural reaction would be to change position and find a better one.

The Nigerian youths are very tired of the way things are run in this country and we chose to air our grievances in a most civil manner — public protest. But our government considered such an act disdainful and unpatriotic of the youths.

Our government wondered in their high and lofty offices on what grounds should we speak against them and call for the end of an institution that had done nothing good since its establishment but murder in cold blood, terrorize, steal and loot from the citizens under the cover and defence of their uniforms as "law enforcement agents" and their guns.

SARS is an acronym that stands for Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a Nigerian police unit set up in 1992 to handle robbery related crimes as their name suggested but instead, they turned around to rob, kill and unleashed gratuitous violence on the people they were paid to protect.

This protest was spurred by the killing of a student in Benin by a SARS officer. This triggered youths to protest nationwide. The government declared the protests unacceptable due to the attention of international communities and plunged the country into mourning by killing innocent youths in cold blood at the Lekki toll gate.

I remember this gruesome act caused activities and movements to shut down for days in most parts of Lagos in solidarity and fear.

The question that comes to mind is: has our situation changed or fared better? Have we achieved some degree or measure of success concerning those things we protest against? The answer is in the negative. It's a slippery slope, one that leads into further decay and chaos…our "law enforcement agents" find new means to terrorize and bully the youths.

I cannot predict the way forward at the moment as I am no soothsayer but can only hope. Yet, I wonder, is this state of mind worth it in this country. Only time will tell. October 20th, 2020 is not a day I ever wish to relive.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

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