They say political power belongs to the people. This has been demonstrated in Africa during the Arab Spring that started in Tunisia to Egypt, Libya and sacked the then governments with force.
The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in Tunisia.
With a visit to google on the meaning and definition of democracy, every definition has mentioned people as the centre of democratic tenants
Democracy is a system of government that bases its legitimacy on the participation of the people. While democratic governments come in ...
A democracy is a country in which the people choose their government by voting for it. The new democracies face tough
Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or through ...
The form of government in which political control is exercised by all the people, either directly or through their elected representatives."[ 5] "The word democracy itself means rule by the people.
Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to ... No consensus exists on how to define democracy, but legal equality, political freedom and rule of law have .
government by the people; especially : rule of the majority
government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised ...
Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and constitution.
Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people. ...
a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
Having given this background, It looks like the Nigerian people are beginning to wake up to this integral ingredient of democracy. The current wave of uninterrupted democratic governance by the military in Nigeria started in 1999. By that time till 2010/11, it was called nascent democracy. A time that it was assumed a learning stage of democracy in the Nigerian polity and political space.
Nigeria during this time has her first major protest in 2012. The people exercised this
people oriented power after the then government announced the end of fuel subsidies on New Year's Day, 2012. This massive protest that turned out people, forced that government to rescind and swallow her words on the subsidy remover.
That was at a pack in Ojota, Lagos.
The power belongs to the people is again playing itself out and positively to say. The protest that is tagged #endSars in 48 hours has made the present government to listen and introduced measures to implement the five point demand by the protest.
The protest purpose is to end extrajudicial killings by the police and the unit called SARS. The unit has been accused of extrajudicial killings, extortion and torture, especially of young people.
SARS is an Acronym. And These are The Assigned DutiesThe Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was a Nigerian Police Force unit created in late 1992 to deal with crimes associated with robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and firearms. It was part of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police
SARS was controversial for its links to extrajudicial killings, extortion, torture, framing, blackmail, kidnapping, illegal organ trade, armed robbery, home invasions, rape of both men & women, child arrests, the invasion of privacy & the destruction of water bodies through the illegal disposal of human remains. After widespread protests in Nigeria and worldwide under the motto "End SARS",the unit was disbanded on 11 October 2020. Inspector General of PoliceM.A. Adamu said that a new unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) would replace the SARS. He said that SARS personnel would report to police headquarters for debriefing and examination. Within hours of the announcement, some Nigerians took to Twitter with the hashtag #EndSWAT,and demonstrations continued amid fears that police reform will not materialize.[Talk about Twitter and social media where it started.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Anti-Robbery_SquadHowever, the five demand of the protest are : 1. Immediate release of all arrested protesters.
2. Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensations for their families.
3. Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reported police misconduct within a period of 10 days
4. Carrying out psychological evaluation and retaining of all disbanded SARS operatives before they can deployed (this should be verified by an independent body).
5. The government should increase police salary and they should adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of the citizens
The government of the day has however responded and acceded to the demands as it has promised to meet several of the protesters' demands, as well as banning Sars, and "extensive" reform of Nigeria's police service.
The authorities have also vowed to free all those protesters who have been detained.
And that all Sars officers will undergo a psychological and medical examination before further training and redeployment, and that Sars officers will not be redeployed to the unit set up to replace it, the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team.
The protest that started in the social media by calling out youths and concerned citizens, popular Nigerians, famous musicians and celebrities home and abroad is taking the Nigerian polity to another level as people have been called out to the streets of the Nigerian capital states.
It started with the #endSars and now crippling into different agitation against the wrongs of governance.
We now see #endbadgovernance #endbadroads
#cut down national assembly salary
And many other #tags.
The Nigerian people just want better life and good government.
The agitation is on, the peaceful protest is yielding results. The world is watching too.
We hope for good governance, the
people are speaking.
This post avoided mentioning of names because of unnecessary hype
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