By Tochukwu Ezukanma<\/p>\n
The event of \u201cBlack Tuesday\u201d at the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza: the
\nshooting, killing and maiming of unarmed, peaceful, flag-waving,
\nnational anthem-singing, youthful Nigerians by the Nigerian army is an
\nindelible moral stain on President Buhari. That blood-spattered
\nonslaught on innocent Nigerians was inexcusable and morally
\nreprehensible. What ghoulish logic could have motivated such gory attack
\non Nigerian youths, whose only crime was that, in the hot enthusiasm of
\nyouth, they dared to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to
\na peaceful protest? Quite naturally, the killing angered, horrified and
\nfrustrated the generality of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, it triggered an anti-government backlash. Depending on
\ntheir means and circumstances, many Nigerians vented their anger and
\nfrustration against this crime against humanity in varied ways. In their
\nanger and frustration, the youths are not backing down; they are
\nre-strategizing to continue with the protest, and still demand an end to
\nSARS, and for overall police reform, good governance and social justice.
\nIn rage and disaffection, other youths, gruff and frenzied, took to
\nrampaging through the streets of Lagos, attacking police stations,
\nburning down government buildings, and properties and businesses
\nbelonging to those suspected to have encouraged, or acquiesced to, the
\nshooting at the protesters. Stripped of youthful vigor and stamina by
\nage, I could neither join in the protest nor the rampage; I am venting
\nmy anger and frustration on President Buhari with my pen.<\/p>\n
Democracy does not guarantee the election of good leaders. Therefore,
\ndespite our democracy, Nigerians still elect horrible individuals as
\npresidents. President Buhari is the worst of these horrible men ever
\nelected president in Nigeria. The election of Mohammadu Buhari to power
\nis one of the most egregious political blunders of Nigerian history. His
\npresidency has been disastrous for the country. As such, Nigeria is a
\nvast scene of confusion, a reality glaringly palpable in heightened
\ninsecurity, spiraling crime rate, and ethnic and religious strife
\nbedeviling the country; worsening economy and its attendant deepening
\nand expanding poverty; suffocating levels of official corruption;
\nunprincipled distribution of the national wealth and social injustice;
\narrogance of power and gross disregard for the sanctity of human life,
\nand its concomitant police brutality, trigger-happiness and
\nextra-judicial killings; etc.<\/p>\n
Although the immediate spark of the #EndSARS protest was police
\nbrutality, especially the cruelty and viciousness of a special police
\nunit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the Nigerian masses had, for
\nlong, been totally disappointed and disillusioned with the status quo.
\nThe #EndSARS protest is pertinent, timely and laudable. With their
\nprotest, the youths are speaking for the generality of Nigerians. They
\nare expressing our collective revulsion for an evil oligarchy that, in
\nits corruption, irresponsibility, avarice and snobbery, consigned a
\ndisproportionate number of Nigerians to vegetating in desperate poverty
\nand groaning under a lawless and murderous police force.<\/p>\n
In dealing with the protesters, Nigerians had expected patient and
\nthoughtful, not ruthless, methods from the Buhari administration.
\nLamentably, its method was most thoughtless and ruthless; it was
\ndownright barbaric. It ordered soldiers to attack the protesters. In
\ntheir shooting spree, the soldiers killed about twenty seven, and
\ninjured more than thirty, protesters. The video of that attack was
\nheart-rending and mind-boggling. It showed the soldiers moving in, and,
\nat very close ranging, opening fire on the protesters. That mass-murder
\nof unarmed, peaceful Nigerians was unpardonable. It is a crime against
\nhumanity.<\/p>\n
For the most part, Nigerians were resigned to the Buhari presidency. As
\nfor that staggering mistake of electing him to power, we found solace in
\nthe belief that we reserve the right to be wrong and make mistakes.
\nMoreover, nothing educates more than a mistake; political mistakes are
\nnecessary ingredients for political learning and experience. As for his
\ncontinued misrule and its attendant social disruption, we found
\nconsolation in waiting out his presidency. After all, his term of office
\nwill expire in May 2023. However, that unbridled murderousness at the
\nToll Gate Plaza on \u201cBlack Tuesday\u201d exposed added dimensions of
\nBuharism.<\/p>\n
It incontrovertibly confirmed Buhari a criminal, culpable of crime
\nagainst humanity. He is a murderer, and his murderous hands are dripping
\nwith the blood of the innocent. It evinced Buhari as an unabashed,
\nunrepentant, incorrigible tyrant. He remains psychologically trapped in
\nthe past: his days of military dictatorship. His power derives from
\npopular will, but perplexingly, he, routinely, acts in defiance of the
\npopular will, and, behaves, as though, his power is predicated on brute
\nforce, and must therefore be maintained with guns and bayonets. Africans
\nthought that their worst political nightmares were made manifest in Idi
\nAmin and Mobutu Sese Seko. That was before the debut of our
\ndemocratically elected tyrant, Mohammadu Buhari. The Buhari
\nadministration seemed to have combined the worst of Amin and Mobutu:
\nwanton bloodshed and mindless kleptomania.<\/p>\n
History has furnished the instructive precedence that the terror of the
\ngun cannot extinguish the awakened aspirations of the people. And that
\nthose, in the deranging effect of power refused to acknowledge this
\nfact, usually, learn the hard way that brute power is the most
\ntreacherous form of power, and that it has always betrayed those who
\nwielded it excessively.<\/p>\n
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tochukwu Ezukanma The event of \u201cBlack Tuesday\u201d at the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza: the shooting, killing and maiming of unarmed, peaceful, flag-waving, national anthem-singing, youthful Nigerians by the Nigerian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n