“More than 60% of the population is below 30. A lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free.” – Muhammadu Buhari, 2018.
When the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari passed this vote of no confidence on the Nigerian youths during a panel appearance with world leaders at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London, it struck a raw nerve amongst the youth.
Not only was his statement a false representation of the Nigerian youths, it was also a case of negative criticism and bias towards a group of people who don’t have a sense of what it means to be an oil producing country.
In a country where there’s shortage of power supply, exorbitant hike in price of petrol, poor medical facilities and infrastructural comatose; it’s difficult to point a finger at something tangible the government has done to support the Nigerian youths in their entrepreneurial drive.
Fast forward to October 2020. If there’s anything the current #EndSARS protest has revealed, it’s the intelligence, resourcefulness and hardworking nature of the Nigerian youths Muhammadu Buhari called “lazy” two years ago.
In less than one month, different groups of young Nigerians have built a rapid response legal and welfare system that spans more than 20 states in Nigeria.
So far, young Nigerians have been able to:
- Set up private security against thugs
- Cater for the feeding of the hungry
- Provide medical care for the injured
- Public defenders for those arrested
- Present transparent budget and procurement
- Maintain sound digital communication system
- Establish 24/7 helpline for emergency
If this doesn’t sound like an effective government, I wonder what is. All these they’ve carried out effectively without a recognizable leader and with minimal funds during this protest.
According to Frank Edoho, he said: “the major lesson I have learned throughout these #EndSARS protest is based on the organisation, orderliness, level-headedness, resilience, thoughtfulness, decorum and altruism of the protesters. THE NIGERIAN YOUTH CAN RUN GOVERNMENT BETTER THAN THE OLD!!!”
This is a protest without a recognizable leader with Oluyomi Ojo saying: “this has to be the most uncoordinated coordination I’ve ever seen”. Besides the fact that this protest has no “leader” – which has made it hugely successful and difficult for the government to hijack – the level of organization is unmatched in the history of Nigeria!
About 80 peaceful protesters arrested across Nigeria have been released, all thanks to the rapid response legal team working round the clock across Nigeria.
Similarly, Paystack a Nigerian fintech startup was recently acquired by fintech giant, Stripe, in a deal that’s worth around $200M. The acquisition of Paystack by Stripe is testament to the hunger and drive of the Nigerian youths in problem solving.
Paystack was founded by two young Nigerians, Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade.
The success story of Paystack represents only a fraction of what the Nigerian youths are capable of doing in the tech industry as well as other sectors even with the challenging business landscape.
If Muhammadu Buhari ever had doubts regarding the potentials of the Nigerian youths, perhaps this #EndSARS protest would have given him an indication of what this generation of youths are capable of doing with limited funds and an “unrecognizable leader”.
#EndSARS is a struggle whose time has come and it has proven to the world that the Nigerian youths are anything but “lazy”. If President Muhammadu Buhari needs a response to the cheeky comments he made about young Nigerians two years ago, he’s surely gotten it now loud and clear.
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