The Serving Overseer, The Citadel Global Community Church and Convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said when Nigeria attained independence on October 1, 1960, it was with fervent faith in the possibilities of a great nation that the founding fathers lowered the British flag and hoisted the Green-White-Green.
Bakare said this at “The State of The Nation Broadcast” on Sunday at the CGCC in Ikeja, Lagos State.
He said the founding fathers dream of a great nation was etched in the lyrics of the national anthem, the second stanza of which states:
“Our flag shall be a symbol
“That truth and justice reign
“In peace or battle honour’d,
“And this we count as gain,
“To hand on to our children
“A banner without stain.”
Bakare said in the country’s moment of despair and sobriety, he has chosen to title his address: The Building Blocks of Nationhood: A Blueprint for the New Nigeria,” because this dark chapter of her history was not how Nigeria’s story will end.
He said: “All across the nation, there is a wave of people movement. It is a wave of citizen engagement championed by the so-called ‘ordinary Nigerian’ who has proven in extraordinary terms to be by no means ordinary.
“It began in Edo State with an awakened and resolute electorate defying the political establishment to make their voices heard and their votes count. In the past couple of weeks, that wave has been transformed into a tsunami of people movement led by our young people who have had enough of the horrendous brutality of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
“I believe that this wave of people movement is the physical manifestation of the birth pangs heralding the New Nigeria.
“As I observed the End SARS protests, I could not but conclude that we are witnessing the crescendo of an era and the beginning of another. Ten years ago, when we convened civil society organisations under the umbrella of Save Nigeria Group, our objective was not to be the voice of the people, but to restore the voices of the voiceless in a nation where social mobilisation had been frozen for too long at that time.
“Ten years later, the End SARS protest has assured me that a generation of Nigerians has arisen, armed with clear and unmistakable voices, refusing to dim their lights or turn down the volume of their requests, because we have entered the era of ‘Soro Soke.’ I salute the courage of this unbreakable generation; I salute the resilience of every Nigerian youth, named and unnamed, who has stood up to be counted in this momentous era.”
The clergyman, who spoke about the heartbreaking tales of extortion, torture, rape and murder that drove the young people to the streets, remembered Linda Nkechi Igwetu, who, in 2018, was reported to have been shot in a friend’s car by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, the day before her passing out parade after serving her nation as a member of the National Youth Service Corps in Abuja and many others such as Stella Ifeoma, Saliu Alli Haruna, Kazeem Tiyamiyu, Tina Ezekwe, Jimoh Isiaq and the peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, “who were shot and killed October 20, by the Armed Forces of the Nigerian state as they held up the Nigerian flag”.
While reacting to the brutality of the Nigerian Police Force and the recent killings, Bakare said the government was ultimately liable.
He said: “When a people elect their leaders, they hand over the responsibility to protect and defend them.
“The gun in the hand of the policeman is the closest, most visible and most easily identifiable symbol of that handover of power and responsibility from the people to the government.
“The people do not have as much access to the president, governor or even the local government chairman or councillor as they do to the policeman on the street.
“In other words, as far as the responsibility of the government to guarantee the security and welfare of the people is concerned, the policeman on the street is the first ambassador of the government to the people.
“Any misuse of that power by the police, especially to repress and oppress any citizen, is ultimately an abuse of the power conferred by the people on their government.
“This is why the widespread protests against police brutality are justified. I acknowledge the efforts made by the government to address the protesters’ demands, but the government must move from commitment to full compliance in the implementation of the 5-for-5 demands of the End SARS protesters and in overhauling our policing architecture.
“Above all, I strongly recommend that President Muhammadu Buhari should ensure that those who ordered armed soldiers to fire on innocent citizens are fished out and made to face the full weight of the law.
“The officers who carried out such wicked acts should also be prosecuted under international legal standards.”
Bakare also noted that the deconstructing of SARS was beyond Police brutality.
He said: “Ladies and gentlemen, any attempt to resolve the issues must go beyond the surface to excavate underlying factors.
“Our overarching challenge is systemic governance failure which, over the decades, has worsened the living conditions of Nigerians.
“As a result, although the Special Anti-Robbery Squad has been disbanded, the spirit of SARS continues to prowl unchecked.
“Therefore, my fellow citizens, lend me your ears, as I unveil to you the true meaning of SARS and why we must End SARS.
“For too long, the Nigerian people have been subjected to a less than desirable nation.
“For too long, the citizens of our country have been served insecurity, poverty and underdevelopment.
“For too long, our people have been denied access to the basic goods that make for a decent standard of living.
“We have been denied quality education, good healthcare, quality roads, access to electricity, and much more.
“The brutal impunity of the gun-wielding policeman or SARS operative is the symbol of this bad governance experience.
“SARS is also the symbol of that politician who loots public funds to build a political war chest and spends it during elections buying votes, hiring thugs, intimidating voters and robbing the people of the power of choice.
“SARS is the symbol of the electoral officer who colludes with politicians to rob the people of their voice as expressed by the vote.
“SARS is the symbol of that appointed public official who, with a stroke of the pen, robs the people of funds that are allocated to education, healthcare, and other social infrastructure.
“SARS is the emblem on the agbada of the legislator who robs the people through budget padding, outrageous allowances, and unaccounted-for constituency projects.
“SARS is the symbol of the corrupt judge who compels Lady Justice to remove her blindfold to check whether the person in the dock is a poor phone thief or a wealthy pension thief so as to sell justice to the highest bidder.
“Together with the murderous members of the police force who have robbed our young people of their lives with the trigger of a gun provided for them by the state, these pen-robbers who deploy the powers, privileges and provisions of their offices to rob the Nigerian people of our common patrimony are all operatives of SARS.
“They all belong to the State-Aided Robbery Squad. That is the true meaning of SARS: State-Aided Robbery Squad.”
Bakare stated that every Nigerian must unite to End SARS.
He said: “This unity of purpose means we choose to see the plight of the almajiris and their inability to access quality education, not as a Northern problem, but as a Nigerian problem.
“Because we are a nation of human connection, we choose to see the murder of seventeen-year-old Tina Ezekwe by a trigger-happy policeman in Lagos, not as a Southern problem, but as a Nigerian problem.
“That is why every heart, young or old, male or female, in the East, West, North and South of Nigeria, must beat with one rhythm.
“This is why every Nigerian voice must declare with one accord: ‘End SARS! End the State-Aided Robbery Squad!’
“End the brutalisation and murder of the Nigerian people by reckless police operatives and soldiers.
“End SARS! End the oppression and subjugation of the Nigerian people by those who ought to protect and serve them.
“End SARS! End the diversion of funds earmarked for the provision of quality education and healthcare for our people.
“End SARS! End the inflation of contracts and give the Nigerian people quality roads and efficient transportation networks.
“End SARS! End the corruption that has denied our people access to steady electricity supply.
“End SARS! End political banditry and the looting of the treasury to build political war chests.
“End SARS! End vote-buying, electoral fraud and the killing of innocent Nigerians just to win elections.
“End SARS! End legislative brigandage, budget padding, backdoor allowances, and the siphoning of funds through perennially uncompleted constituency projects.
“End SARS! End judicial rascality and the merchandising of justice to the highest bidder. End SARS! End the State-Aided Robbery Squad.”
Bakare added that the Nigerian dream is the hope in the heart of every citizen.
He said: “The Nigerian dream is the hope in the heart of every Nigerian who desires a better nation. It is the longing in the heart of that Nigerian girl child who seeks to be educated despite her parents’ offer to marry her off because they cannot afford to send her to school.
“The Nigerian dream is the aspiration of that young graduate who decides to learn an honest vocation and to create jobs rather than succumb to the frustrations of unemployment or resort to crime.
“The Nigerian dream is the drive that wakes that father who lives in Sango-Ota, and who must leave home before dawn at the risk of being robbed, just to beat the dense traffic to Lagos Island, where he labours to put food on the table for his family.
“The Nigerian dream is the hope behind the sacrifice of that Nigerian teacher who continues to prepare lesson notes, to teach schoolchildren in dilapidated classrooms, to administer and grade homework and tests, and to organise extra revision classes months after her last salary was paid.
“The Nigerian dream is what propels the Nigerian business owner who strives in difficult environments, with limited access to funds or electricity, to create solutions and deliver innovative services across sectors, from agriculture and finance to communication and entertainment.
“The Nigerian dream is the hope of every Nigerian who lost a job, or a business, or even a loved one, to the COVID-19 pandemic, but who has refused to stay down and is now re-energised and propelled by that tireless bounce back spirit that makes us Nigerians.
“The Nigerian dream is the fuel that has fanned the flames of those young Nigerians on the streets of Lagos, Abuja, Benin, Ibadan, Owerri, Jos, Makurdi and cities across the Nigerian landscape and the diaspora, as well as on various social media platforms, all chanting the rallying cry for freedom: End SARS!
“The Nigerian dream is that mental portrait of the Nigeria of our earnest hopes, the New Nigeria, a nation that is possible, a nation we must come together to create, a Nigeria where the right to life is sacred and no one is brutalised or extrajudicially murdered; where no one goes to bed hungry and no child is left without access to quality education; where our homes, schools, streets, villages, highways and cities are safe and secure, and Nigerians can work, play or travel with their minds at rest, and go to bed with their hearts at peace; a Nigeria where our hospitals are life-saving institutions and every Nigerian has access to quality healthcare; where no youth is unemployed and our young men and women are job creators; where businesses thrive on innovation and made-in-Nigeria goods can compete anywhere in the world; where homes and businesses have access to uninterrupted power supply, and ideas are facilitated by functional infrastructure and cutting-edge technology; where no part of our nation – North, South, East or West – has a reason to feel marginalised, and where every Nigerian is proud to say, ‘I am a Nigerian;’ a Nigeria that is a model for Africa and a beacon of hope to the world – that is the Nigeria of our dreams; the Nigeria we must come together to build.”
The clergyman concluded by appealing to the Nigerian youths whose patriotic spirits have been traumatised.
He said: “I appeal to the Nigerian youth whose patriotic spirits have been brutalised and traumatised by a repressive Nigerian state.
I appeal to them not to lose hope in Nigeria. I encourage them to keep hope alive because the Nigeria of their dreams, the New Nigeria, is within reach.
“I appeal to the older generation to speak up at this point in defence of our hard-earned freedom. This is not the nation our founding fathers lived and died for.
“This is not the nation we fought for in the trenches of pro-democracy movements.
“This is not the nation we hope to bequeath to our children.
“We will build this nation, not upon the altar of the blood of our young people, but on their visions and aspirations.
“I am confident that we can end the brutalisation of our people, put an end to the State-Aided Robbery Squad, and begin the process of nation-building.
“It is time to turn the stumbling blocks of our past into stepping stones to our future.
“Let us, therefore, arise to build a great nation, that all who have died in the quest for a new nation will not have died in vain, and that the Nigerian dream will become the Nigerian reality.
“Nigeria will be saved! Nigeria will be changed!! Nigeria will be great in our lifetime!!! Amen.
“Thank you, God bless you, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and God bless the continent of Africa.”