Tasks before leaders and the led

Juidical panels inquiring into the grievances of youths and the aftermath of EndSARS protests are swinging into action in several states.

The governors have done well by promptly setting up the panels which are expected to hold the bull by the horns and unravel those things we don’t yet know in the course of the journey that brought us to this pass.

The country has been rife with rage in the likeness of the roar of thunder and the temper and speed of lightning with unbelievable devastation in its trail, striking cold shivers in our spine. Whoever goes round in Lagos and watch television to see what happened in states outside Lagos will discover that the scale of destruction was simply mind-rending. Darkness simply seized the land, spewed its currents, and released its storms to assail wherever they could find targets. How much looting and destruction could have happened on such an incredibly humongous scale must interest all of us. In some places, overwhelmed security men were asking looters to go in but in peace and cart away whatever they wanted!

The historic edifices were such as the Igbosere High Court and its magistrate’s court wing which is the oldest court in Nigeria with its colonial solid structure was set on fire. The Nigerian Ports Authority Head offices at Marina were set ablaze. Police stations and buses all bearing the stamp or symbols of power were unmistakable targets, and warehouses in which COVID-19 palliatives organised by the corporate bodies in collaborative working were stored, got looted evincing hunger-driven desperation as well as anger.

It is hoped that the various panels will exhibit the courage to dig deeper into the issues and come up with exhaustive reports and recommendations which will be designed not to please the leader or mislead the led as to their respective responsibilities. There is no action without consequences. Whoever is familiar with the mechanisms governing Creation known as Divine Laws would not regard what has happened lightly because these Natural Laws, unseen as they may be in their tangibility, are living, incorruptible, immutable and self-enforcing, twist or turn as we may wish in our delusionary bravado and smiles.

The foundation for a harmonious and peaceful living, development, and progress lie in love and goodness. This will release the milk of human kindness to flow in our veins. They are what the laws seek to ingrain in us. The lootings across the country consume our nobility of character and tolerance. What the government needs to do is embarking on carefully worked out social welfare programmes for the legions of the unemployed and the vulnerable poor.

For the youths, this will go simultaneously with the acquisition of skills for self-employment. Given human nature, this requires deep thought and learning from experiences of other nations so that the youths are not led into self-indulgence which will defeat the true purpose of life which entails personal struggle in which, buffeted with prayers, lies the unfolding of talents and abilities. From the EndSARS protests, we could see that the youths can be pragmatic, well organized, and visionary. In the scheme of things, it will be hard to get them to trust the government unless they are involved in the programmes from the planning stage. Elders they trust and chosen by them should be moderators between them and the government where the programmes are concerned. This will also bridge the gap between the government and the youths.

I am unable to exhaust the subject so as not to pre-empt the work of the different panels. The lesson we may go away with for now is that we have fallen short. The society bred the EndSARS army and the government was typically tardy in sitting on the 2018 panel report on the unit’s reforms.