THE OCTOBER NIGERIANS WILL NEVER FORGET
I was told I was the leader of tomorrow. We were all sold this lie and asked to sing songs to buttress this facade. We sang the songs and hoped for ‘the tomorrow’ that never came. We grew up and realized that they leveraged our futures for their selfish bellies even before we were born. We took this like champs and began to work our way up on ladders that we had to create for ourselves. While climbing, we realized that they didn’t even want us to stay alive because our resilience and merely our existence threatens the powers that be.
It is beyond appalling that in a democratic system of government in 2020, Nigerians have to beg for the right to live and peaceful protesters are being killed just for simply having a voice. How are you killing us because we asked you not to kill us? Is Nigeria an abattoir or are we in some kind of hunger games arena where they’re watching us get killed for sport?
October 20, 2020, is a day we will never forget. A day Comrades stood and died for the country they believed in; a day we saw a massacre in modern Nigeria; the day we dare say the Nigerian government declared war on her people because we began asking questions. Take a minute to look at the timeline. The timeline has presented an ideology that the attack against peaceful protesters at the Lekki tollgate was a calculated massacre aimed at breaking the spirit of Nigerians. The curfew in Lagos state was announced around 12noon to begin at 4 pm. At around 5 pm, security cameras were dismounted from the tollgate and other surrounding areas. Around 7 pm the lights at the tollgate were turned off and the attack by soldiers of the Nigerian Army reportedly began. These soldiers, saddled with the responsibility of keeping us safe, shot live rounds at unarmed civilians fighting for a better Nigeria that will also benefit them. They kill us while our corrupt politicians embezzle, laugh and flee.
Although these events are heart-wrenching, Nigerians are not backing down. The protests have continued across the country and the numbers keep rising. The hardship in the country birthed what we have always called the “Nigerian Spirit” that is relentless, dogged and success-driven. Now, that Nigerian Spirit is braver than ever and it only keeps growing. The movement has only begun and our voices must be heard.
Now that we are tired of mediocrity and we have woken up, they have proceeded to call us names. Miscreants, hoodlums, thugs disturbing the peace. Pay them no mind! Like Burna Boy said, ‘we are the monsters they made’.