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Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Thursday received a three-volume report from the Investigation Panel led by Judge Tunde Garba into the #EndSARS protest, promising to set up an implementation committee on its recommendations. With this development, Kwara joined the list of state whose investigative group has reported, and arguably the most consistent in Nigeria to provide justice to victims of police brutality.
We all know of #EndSARS – the civil rights movement against police brutality and bad leadership that crossed the country at the end of 2020. It was led by young people who were rightly disenchanted with the Nigerian police system and united in demanding a better deal from the government.
The protests stretch for weeks, defying force and other pleas, to pressure demands from steadfast protesters, including the disbandment of F-SARS; an investigative committee formed by each state government to examine cases of alleged brutality to punish guilty officers and compensate victims, review of police salaries, among other diehard points to clean up the police system and make the nation welcoming for the common man.
The alleged delay in the response from the authority and poor coordination on the part of the organizers arguably made the largest protest in the country’s history become violent and destructive, costing many lives and property.
However, the unrest eventually led Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to ban F-SARS (instead of SWAT), and each state government was ordered to form an investigative group to verify allegations of brutality. police and bring justice to the victims.
While some states have mismanaged the issue, the nation must take note of the commitment of Governors Babajide Sanwoolu and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Lagos and Kwara respectively. Both have shown responsiveness and consistency not only in implementation, but also in changing the ineffectiveness of the #EndSARS leadership unmasked in the nation.
AbdulRazaq, in particular, is an unsung hero who has shown himself to stand head and shoulder above his contemporaries. In the heart of the demonstration, he dived to walk with the protesters to the police station in solidarity, a courageous act that calmed the restless young people. This was around the time his contemporaries elsewhere reportedly released security guards on weak and armless protesters. Oyo, Rivers and Abuja easily come to mind. As a result of the violence that eventually erupted across the country and which was sparked by the suspicion of the authority to hoard palliatives amid the pandemic, both public and private properties were looted in Kwara. What did he do? He condemned this act, warned the criminal elements to stay out of his state, before starting to sympathize with the private business owners concerned.
It is with this in mind that he announced a recovery fund of # 500 million grants to relieve them and save their businesses from the doldrums. What is most endearing is that the process of accessing the fund was swift, transparent and incredibly open to the public. He had formed a committee that included one of the affected business owners to determine what support the government could offer them, before inviting professional adjusters to assess their claims, to guide the government’s financial decisions. As we speak, the Shoprite Mall whose ruin was reminiscent of a sequel to the #EndSARS Post’s looting of what has become Owu Kingdom, after a combined military force of Ife, Oyo and Ijebu invaded the city as depicted in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu, cut a new look with all the stalls reopened for business. It is confirmed that 49 affected store owners (including eight security guards attacked by thugs) scored between N100,000 and N17,000,000, for a total of N180,775,000.00 only.
This means that the governor of Kwara, AbdulRazaq, has avoided the death of businesses, the increase in the unemployment rate and the consequences of hunger and the lack of thousands of Nigerian families. These are the effects of the post- # EndSARS debacle that many state governments have failed to adequately address. It is also the right message to send to investors in the business community to promote one’s state. It will come as no surprise that the State of Harmony will become the center of investment in north-central Nigeria in the years to come.
The meat of the coin, however, is his commitment to seeking justice for the helpless. It is very heroic that he keeps his yard clean to show young people those who speak the tongue in the cheek to respect life and freedom. While some panels did not sit or even forgot to resume the proceedings, welcoming the report based on various petitions received, bordering on alleged police brutality, illegal arrests, extortion, violation of rights fundamental human rights and impunity of the panel, time, reinforces the principles of democracy, public accountability and freedom that young Nigerians seek to respect. Now that he has received the report, I must urge him to adopt and speed up the implementation of the recommendations, which include, in particular, the provision of support to victims of identified cases of police brutality, among others to improve the living conditions of serving and retired police officers. Others must imitate him now.
From participating in the protest to protect the protesters to dealing with the lawlessness that followed and providing swift financial support to the store owners concerned (which could have led to worsening hunger and hardship in the State), and, now, the timely process of implementing # EndSARS demands that no governor in Nigeria has demonstrated better responsiveness, efficiency and respect towards young Nigerians dead or alive in recent years. AbdulRazaq, who is also the first and only leader in Africa to form a 56% gender cabinet (including Nigeria’s youngest commissioner), turns out to be the gift that O’toge gave to women and young Nigerians.
Abdullateef is Writing Fellow in African Liberty, United States
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