There are also claims that it was live-streamed real-time globally. As for the political and social scientists at eminent universities, they have come up with various theses and anti-theses. In their attempt to dissect and diagnose they have resorted to first principles, namely our nation is the victim of post-traumatic stress disorder compounded with clinical depression.
Hence, it is only within that framework that we can even begin to make sense of firing shots at unarmed peaceful protesters, most of whom are our brightest and bravest, fuelled with despair over their future which we have mortgaged without their consent.
Various eminent professors have waded in with their tentative conclusions anchored on a dossier which is redolent with manifest injustices over the last sixty years – going back to our Independence Day on 1st October 1960.
“Conflict over institutions and distribution of resources has been pervasive throughout history.”
Nigeria is not an exception.
Also, “Technological innovation makes human societies prosperous, but also involves the replacement of the old with the new, and the destruction of the economic privileges and political power of certain people.”
At the root of our problems is the rear-guard action of those whose power and might are under threat. When the lights were switched off at the tollgate, it was confirmation of confusion: was it an uprising, a rebellion or a revolution that was about to unfold?
The hoodlums, gangsters and bandits were deliberately injected (parachuted!!) into the conflict area in order to create the fear of mob rule. They were not afraid of the consequences having been long-standing witnesses of the capitulation of the bastions of law and order – police, judges and lawyers to injustice when it suits their purpose.
Not long ago, a prominent judge took umbrage at the delaying tactics of a very senior lawyer over a corruption trial that had dragged on for eleven years while some key witnesses have died. In fury, he took a swing at the “OBJ’s” (Obstruction of Justice Lawyers) – lawyers who had mastered the craft of not the speedy conclusion of the trial and the delivery of justice, but elongated and eventual “inconclusive verdict”, long after everyone else would have forgotten what the case was all about.
We have been provided with a lifeboat in order to enable us to comprehend the true dimension of what has gripped Lagos and engulfed Nigeria.
Seren Kierkegaard (Denmark 1813 – 1855) has been widely acclaimed as the first existentialist philosopher who in the book: “The Sickness Unto Death” detailed (according to the blurb), how all human beings live with despair until they die, whether they know it or not.
The conflict between Lagosians and the rest of Nigeria remains unresolved: Should non-Lagosians adapt themselves to us or should we adapt ourselves to them (and just flow with the tide)? Even when the nation is sinking with violence, injustice, poverty, ignorance, corruption, intolerance, kidnapping, looting and bandits?
Read also: The bullets were meant for us
There is no guaranty of our survival. Indeed, we may be laughed off the stage if we leap into the inferno or arena to extol, advertise or proclaim our unique attributes and core values: Uprightness and trustworthiness; Respect for our traditions and culture; Reverence for elders; Sanctity of the family name and reputation; Tolerance of other people’s religion/faith; Abhorrence of arrogance, greed, covetousness and malice; Abundance of generosity of spirit; Genuine sympathy and concern for the plight of the poor and underprivileged, and Goodwill to all; malice to none.
It is not only the future of the young men and women who were protesting peacefully that is at stake. Everything is at stake. There is also an unresolved but profound incongruity – could our own generation of weaklings spawn the next generation who are evidently the strong, perhaps exceptional breed? Yet they may end up being shot if the powers that be conclude that it was not a peaceful protest but a failed coup d’état.
In the United States of America, indigenes of Lagos some years ago embarked on a sympathy march demanding to know how come Kano State has a population of over 13 million with 44 local government councils while Lagos State with a population of over 20 million has only 20 local government councils – which puts Lagos State at a huge disadvantage when revenue is being shared by the Federal Government to Local Government Councils.
Besides, they also want to know how come Lagos State alone generates 55 per cent of Value Added Tax (VAT) but receives only 1.39 per cent of VAT when it is time to share? How odd that even states which have banned the consumption of alcohol have no qualms about pocketing the proceeds of VAT charged on beer and other “haram” (forbidden) alcoholic drinks?
As if he has been mandated to frame the terms of reference for a Forensic Audit of Lagos State, the erudite Professor Adebayo Williams has provided us with a snapshot or bird’s eye view of the statis that has afflicted our beloved state:
“Next time around, the police having lost all illusions may be tempted to join the hoodlums in their looting and shooting frenzy. That will be real Armageddon.
We can only avoid this looming disaster if the rate of social absorption of the hoodlums through their economic rehabilitation outpaces their growth rate. For a society facing drastic economic decline, this is going to be a tall order.
It is either we are going to be dragged into modernity or we choose to remain in our current nether-zone until it gets to us. A modern mega-city without a metro system, adequate sanitation, dwelling quarters, civic centres, and a polite and people-friendly security service can only produce the type of dehumanised denizens that have been on the rampage in our cities in the past fortnight.
The international response to the shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki Tollgate Plaza has been swift and overwhelming.
i.) From the United States of America
The United States of America, through a statement made by the Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo recriminated the Nigerian government by declaring:
“The United States strongly condemns the use of excessive force by military forces who fired on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos, causing death and injury. We welcome an immediate investigation into any use of excessive force by members of the security forces. Those involved should be held to account in accordance with Nigerian law.
The right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are essential human rights and core democratic principles. We call on the security services to show maximum restraint and respect fundamental rights and for demonstrators to remain peaceful. We extend our condolences to the victims of the violence and their families.”
