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#EndSARS: Mr. President, time for you to play
The week-long protests over police brutality in Nigeria compels the highest level response at the moment: Mr. President, it’s time for you to play.
The young people of this country have, without much ado, spoken out their minds so eloquently. The government has responded in measures that on a normal day would ordinarily be deemed satisfactory. But these are not normal days. They simply are not. These are days of anguish and rage.
As we see it, the cry of the young people in the course of the #EndSARS protests is indeed very deep. They have seen pain. They have become most familiar with hopelessness. They are distressed. Deep situations like this require deep solutions. They need a balm that soothes.
In our view, the beginning of that process would require straight, honest and unblinking admission of visceral responsibility from leadership. And for better effect, this should be coming from none other than the President himself, General Muhammadu Buhari.
To be sure, the broadcast that would calm frayed nerves should be one that goes ahead to outline proposals for addressing the broader range of grievances that abound in the land. This is because, while it may be lawful to focus exclusively on the immediate challenge of the moment, the deeper and underlying truth is that the expedient thing to do is to use this opportunity to equally take out ‘the fire next time.’ And it is doable.
For the sake of all that is good and decent in Nigeria, we urge the President to make that broadcast today. Like ‘the sun on this rubble after rain,’ let Nigeria make all the progress that it must make today.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
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