THE recent demonstrations in the Federal Capital Territory and other parts of the country which was hijacked by hoodlums and other criminal elements to attack and vandalise government establishments as well as privately owned properties and businesses is one ugly incident that no well-meaning Nigerian would want to experience again.
While youths around the country were engaging in peaceful protests to demand an end to police brutality as well as the reform of the security agencies, some hoodlums among the youth population took advantage of the situation to launch devastating attacks on government and privately owned businesses and properties.
In the end, several storage facilities and warehouses belonging to government and private businesses in several parts of the FCT and other parts of the country were vandalised, looted and set ablaze by the rampaging youths, leading to the loss of billions of Naira worth of goods and properties, destruction of means of livelihood and the regrettable loss of lives of other Nigerians.
Much as the intention of the protesting youths and the call for an end to police brutality are quite noble and commendable, the same cannot be said about the activities of the hoodlums who have brought untold hardship to other Nigerians.
For instance, the estimated cost of the losses suffered by private business owners and government in the FCT have been set at billions of Naira. The means of livelihood of most Nigerians in the areas most affected by the unrest have also been destroyed leaving them in ruins.
This begs the question, in whose interest are these rampaging hoodlums carrying out these attacks? Certainly, it cannot be the interest of the Nigerian youths whose means of livelihood have now been destroyed, rendering them jobless. Again, the public institutions that have been vandalised, the police outposts, the hospitals, the schools, the banks, the grain reserves, are these not all facilities established to serve members of the communities, majority of whom are the youths? Who then would suffer the consequences?
Another angle to this unrest is the fact that widespread social discontent as was witnessed recently during the ENDSARS demonstrations, is one that is capable of snowballing into large scale breakdown of law and order, which could eventually leave us with even bigger problems, if not well managed.
A country like Nigeria that is already experiencing cracks along ethnic and religious fault lines surely cannot afford to have situations that would widen these cracks.
Much as there are numerous reasons to be angry and discontented as a Nigerian youth, there is need however for the youths to exercise restraint and abandon whatever ruinous path that they may have been instigated into by external forces.The youths spoke very loudly and clearly during the peaceful protests and their messages have been heard by government as have been attested to by various officials of the government. The next best option now is to begin to dialogue with the government to see how the demands made by the youths during the protests could be met. Continued acts of destruction and vandalism by the youths would only lead to the loss of goodwill which could defeat the purpose that the peaceful protests were set to achieve.
The point must also be made that whoever goes into a business premises to steal and destroy properties or loot foodstuffs, whether under the euphoria of protest or whatever guise is a thief and the law is very clear on how to deal with these categories of person.
- Danladi Akilu, Abuja
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has told a Federal High Court in Abuja, that the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) was sacked to solve the internal leadership crises rocking the party. The party also said that immediately the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee was put in place after the NWC’s dissolution, the crises that had characterised its affairs were laid to rest…
Post COVID-19: Kano based industrialist tasks FG on economyÂ
A Kano based industrialist, Chief Kalu Ogbonnaya, has advised the Federal Government to take necessary steps to stimulate the nation’s economy to prevent a recession post COVID-19. Ogbonnaya who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Kano, said as a result of the coronavirus raving the world, no business has been moving…