By Affy Ayomo
No matter what, I believe President Buhari will come out of this situation, smelling like roses. It has never happened in Nigeria that a sitting President backed Protesters agitating under his own government.
All the demands of the protesters were divided into:
1. Immediate
2. Short term and
3. Long-term
And they were all acceded to.
The much needed Police reforms and compensation for victims of police brutality, will be actualised under President Buhari. Many of our political trouble makers are now hiding in towns and villages across Nigeria, their police escorts having been withdrawn.
The eye Opener that State Governors are the Chief security Officers of their states and can be held responsible, has dawned on the people of Nigeria.
The exposure that many of our youth, who grew up in abject poverty and missed out on formal education, under past administrations, have become a threat to our collective security, is a good thing. If anyone can fix them, its Mai Gaskiya!
Back to the protest, my hope is that the youth would learn in the future, not to throw away a hard earned victory, simply because it was earned easily. Had they gone home with their easy victory, their gains would not have been blighted by the sad appendix that followed their resounding victory- the looting and destruction of government and private properties, as well as loss of lives, including the bludgeoning of police officers to death.
It has never happened, at least not in Africa, where the World watched such protests without scathing condemnations. The few that spoke, measured their utterances. Facebook marked deliberate misinformation as FAKE NEWS. BBC did a fact check, marking unverified stories as FAKE NEWS.
Unfortunately, it took a well intentioned protest that was hijacked by personal interests to show Nigerians and the world that President Buhari, a most misunderstood leader, had been buried under an avalanche of fake news, hate and outright misinformation.
Blighted as it is, the protest achieved some gains but President Buhari is the major beneficiary of the 2020 Police reforms protest. As he works to implement the reforms and other demands of the protesters, the benefits to Nigerians, will form part of the Muhammadu Buhari legacy. They meant it for embarrassment. God made it for good.
Congratulations Buhari. You have come out of this crises situation, smelling like rose. Nigeria will be better of for it.
Affy Ayomo ©️
