The Unwavering Quest For Freedom, The
Hope And The After-Effects
By Anioke Chukwunonso
21st December 2020
For close to two months running now, the
Nigerian youths endured the painful
mourning of their comrades that were
callously and brutally murdered before
their very eyes, in cold blood by the
Nigerian military. These Nigerian youths
were gruesomely gunned down for daring
to justly place demands for an end to the
brutality of the officers of the outlawed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), amidst the colorful
rendition of the National Anthem and waves of the National Flag.
They were freely and peacefully exercising their fundamental rights as citizens, decently calling for
better lives devoid of any inkling of oppressions and denials. And with total disregard to the
Constitution and disrespect for the rights of the citizens as increasingly being witnessed and
experienced in the country, the already over-burdened Nigerians got fed up with the shenaniganic
antecedents of the Nigerian leadership of the day.
The lackadaisical and the questionable approach of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the
United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and the treachery of the Nigerian media, constitute
therefore, grave issues of concern to the informed. The cry for total freedom from the clutches of
the slavish amalgamation theory of 1914 which is yet criminally in vogue till date and riddled with
grevious fault lines, has remained the only exit hope of the Nigerian people. There exists really, no
definitive words that can pointedly describe and convey the type of attached desire of the people
for a better world as presently being pursued by the various and gravely affected ethnic
nationalities entrapped therein.
It is disheartening therefore, to state that up till this very moment, no individual has been held
accountable for the gruesome murder of those innocent, protesting Nigerian youths at Lekki and
Obigbo respectively. The Nigerian government, it's military and the compromised media have
shamelessly partnered in the most despicable blackmail in their warped campaign to deny the
killing of the inmocent citizens.
Without any sense of remorse by the state-sponsored perpetrators of this heinous crime and with
the total neglect of the demands of the #EndSars protest, the same agitation seems to have
resurfaced in a more potent format. The demands for a total end to police extra-judicial killings of
citizens, abolition of the criminal/terroristic police outfit known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS), the dissolution of the unworkable 1999 Nigerian Constitution which is laced with ethnic
and religious bigotry, the holistic reformation of the Nigerian Police Force, the regulation of the
salaries of members of the National Assembly, the revitalization of the country's education system,
etcetera, have remained blatantly politicized with no expedient attention given by the powers that
be. The consequences of this second phase of the protest, if treated with disdain, will potentially
rock and annihilate the very evil foundation that the conscienceless oppressive government of
Nigeria, upholds.
The tenents of tyranny and neo-colonialism would have to be completely destroyed. Any unlawful
and despotic interference in the protest by the Nigerian government under whatever guise, will
definitely be met with total breakdown of law and order. Protests are encapsulated in the
demonstration of civil right which must not be denied the people in a democracy and Nigeria can
never be an exception.
Freedom is definitely the light, beaming at the end of the tunnel. It is invariably the hope that
strenghtens with unruffled guts without any iota of fear or favor. The end of tyranny and injustice
as a matter of right, will dawn before our very eyes on this glorious march for a better and
fulfilling life. This is both for us and for the upcoming generations. Our leadership of tomorrow, we
very courageously place demand for, today. Our destiny, we must jealously guard with our blood if
need be.
This very day, we are stoutly prepared to pay the ultimate prize for our cherished freedom from
the shackles of neo-colonialism, subjection, penury, victimization, second-classism and economic
decadence.
Written by Anioke Chukwunonso
Edited by Peter Oshagwu
For Family Writers Press International