The nationwide peaceful protest against the former Special Anti-Robbery Squad has gained a new dimension which no one should ignore. The restlessness of our angry youths is a reflection of the general distortions in our polity.
The system is not working. It has foundered on the rocks. We must change and reconfigure the warped, unworkable system for the good of all our people.
A nation of about 200 million people policed by a meager 400,000 ill-equipped, ill-trained, ill-paid police force is anarchy waiting to happen.
There are dislocations everywhere. Hunger, unemployment, under-employment, corruption, greed, nepotism and all sundry ills are tearing our nation asunder.
The protesting youths at the two ends of Lekki Toll gates, in Abuja, in Warri, in Katsina and in virtually all our capital cities across the nation have been provoked to seize the gauntlet because they cannot perceive a meaningful future for themselves in an environment where one man without a visible industry can parade three private jets and limitless convoy of bullion vans as a war chest at any time.
We have lost our national ethos and traditional bearings while little men and their families appropriate our commonwealth.
We must empower the youth through various skill acquisition programmes and make our economy more vibrant, creating employment opportunities for this restless and justifiably angry generation.
The ultimate solution to this broken system is power devolution. The present structure is too centralised, too dominated by an arbitrary powerful centre that is very distant from the local nuances, the complexities and various distinctions and challenges of our diverse communities.
We can take our youths away from the streets not through force, not through violence but by restoring their dignities through a more equitable, fair, just, open and more competitive society where the children of the rich and the poor have the same opportunities to actualize their destinies.
*Chief Olabode George, CON
Atona Odua of Yorubaland
