The protests to #ENDSARSNOW has been brewing for years which conclusively ended in a ban. The past and the present Nigerian government has paid lip service to police reforms. There is hardly any Nigerian who has not suffered directly or indirectly from police brutality. Before the emergence of SARS, the traits that have made this police anti-robbery squad notorious can be found in the regular police. The extortion that SARS is now renowned for, were perpetrated years ago by the most civil department or section of the Nigerian police. One of the reasons why many crimes, particularly rape go unreported is because of the unprofessionalism and criminality of the Nigerian police when victims report such cases. Most people who step into a police station to report a case without preparing to financially motivate the police into doing their job, often regret their decision. This is the fertile ground that groomed SARS, who some Nigerians fear more than robbers. The ending or abolition of SARS is not going to come by the proscription of SARS. This is because the institution that gave birth to SARS is constantly pregnant with similar units that can come online with new nomenclature. The real work that needs to be done is on the Nigerian police. The Nigerian police is SARS and SARS is the Nigerian police. It has gotten so bad that Nigerians in the diaspora have now added police brutality to their list of reasons not to visit Nigeria.

If you analyze the attributes of SARS, you can reuse Fela’s remark when describing the Nigerian security apparatus. He said… they leave sorrow, tears, and blood, adding that it is their regular trademark. If we analyze our lives, we could see individuals who are SARS. The increased state of domestic violence that is becoming more gruesome is a pointer to the fact that we have domestic SARS posing as husbands, boyfriends, parents, and stepparents. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The injustice in our society is pervasive. The recent statement from Senator Elisha Abbo who assaulted a nursing mother in a sex toy store encapsulates the present situation. He condemned the verdict of the court by saying his actions do not deserve such a verdict. As a nation, we have condoned violence so much that it is becoming background noise. A government led by a retired army general has completely failed in its duties to safeguard lives and property. After these successful protests, we must move our attention to other aspects of this government’s maladministration. We should point our searchlight into the present accumulation of Chinese loans among other corrupt acts in the polity. This is because the future of Nigerian youths is being mortgaged by these loans that will find their way into the personal account of kingpins of this administration.

After this ban of SARS, another area I will suggest we scrutinize is our personal lives. Are you a SARS to yourself and others? It is extremely easy and convenient to point accusing fingers at others while we are worse than our accusers. The level of cultism among youths is disheartening. The violence that is perpetrated by them would scare the living daylights out of the average Nigeria who has not had any encounter with them. These are the menace a special squad of the police ought to be policing. But the endemic destruction of our value system where criminals, bigots, and despots are in power bastardizes everything. Today, we all hail corrupt politicians and criminally minded individuals with the hope we can partake of their spoils. Family-sponsored prostitution is no longer news. Fraudster becoming elected officials or even monarch is no longer a surprising headline. We have been numbed by the terrorization of our psyche in the last few decades by politicians and their policies which promote violence like the violence from Fulani herdsmen that has gone unaddressed. For those who see the SARS protest as successful, please think again. The battle just began. The life of Fela and Gani shows us that governments are often deaf and dumb until a sustainable front is raised by the masses. So, let us watch and pray and get back to the streets if nothing satisfactory happens after this announcement.

Ata Ukuta, Editor – www.towncryyers.com