The protest that started peacefully yesterday was disrupted by the body supposed to lead the protest—the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS! This is literally the very body that ought to have been leading and defending the protest. This is solely because the government can’t take up the responsibility of tackling insecurity, and it was for this very reason that we had to match peacefully to demand that the government must ultimately put everything in place to secure the release of Oyo 47!
Instead of attending to the demands of the real protesters, and also listening to them, Seyi Makinde, the Agodi Dictator, preferred to call for a close door meeting with NANS and other reactionary movements. They came armed to the teeth with equipment of violence that should only be found with security apparutus in a functioning society. NANS, the body that should supposedly be spearheading the struggle came to the protest ground violently. At the protest ground, they demanded to remove our berets because they did not want to see “Sowore boys” or members of the Ratels movement. Instead of protecting the democratic rights of protesters, these NANS officials appeared more interested in policing dissent.
After publicly claiming to respect us, the NANS Oyo JCC Chairman allegedly mobilized individuals who pursued protesters who had dispersed from the venue. We saw armed men carrying knives and other weapons searching for activists to attack.
The NANS led by Lanre Arogundade, Ropo Ewenla, Gbenga Komolafe fought unlike the Akinteye Babatunde Afeez and Uthman led NANS. This is not the tradition upon which NANS was built. Previous generations of student leaders fought military dictatorships, resisted the commercialization of education, defended independent unionism, and paid the price through arrests, expulsions, detention, and harassment. Today, too many student leaders appear more comfortable seeking the approval of those in power than confronting the injustice in society – which is what they were supposedly ‘elected’ for.
Maybe, we need to remind the leadership of NANS that the children in captivity are students and members of NANS. Their safety should be the priority of any genuine student movement. NANS must therefore decide whether it exists to defend students or to serve as a convenient intermediary between government officials and angry young people, whenever we are angry about government incompetence.
One thing we know for sure is that the struggle against insecurity cannot be won through closed-door meetings and intimidation. It will only be won through solidarity, courage, and a commitment by all of us to stand with students and ordinary Nigerians.
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