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Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
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10 Nov, 6 tweets, 3 min read
It is important to have clarity on the issue of #EndSARS, because so many people are muddling up so many different issues:
1. The #EndsSARS protest was concerned with better policing, better governance & a better country. Thread...
2. The #EndSARS protests were peaceful. Perhaps the most peaceful was the one at the Lekki Tollgate. The military action against the Lekki Tollgate protesters, even before the commencement of the curfew, was, therefore, unnecessary and uncalled for.
3. The jail breaks, arson, looting and mayhem around the country before and after the Lekki Tollgate military intervention were not carried out by the peaceful #EndSARS protesters that were demanding for better policing, better governance and a better country.
4. Blaming the arson, looting and mayhem perpetrated by thugs and miscreants (some appearing to have been sponsored, others self-sponsoring) on the peaceful #EndSARS protesters is disingenuous and an attempt to avoid the issues raised by the peaceful #EndSARS protests.
5. Peaceful protest is a Constitutional right. To arrest somebody for protesting, you must show in court that they were violent or incited violence. The Lagos State Government, therefore, rightly released many that had been arrested & plans to prosecute some for violent conduct.
6. The issues that formed the basis of the peaceful #EndSARS protests (better policing, better governance and a better country for all) still need to be addressed. Governance problems never go away until they are addressed. Hope these help to provide some clarity. End.

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More from @DrJoeAbah

Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
16 Oct
I welcome the 7-Point Demands in the public space, as a step forward in the #EndSARS #EndSWAT debate. However, although it is well intentioned, it needs much clearer articulation for it to have any effect. In the following short thread, I will offer some guidance. Thread...
1. Institutional Reform (Security): This is fine.
2. Cost of Governance: What RMAFC approves is not the problem. It is what people like NASS award to themselves, without approval from RMAFC or anyone else, that is the problem. The demand here should be reformulated.
3. Constitutional Reform: There is no provision for referendum in the current constitution, so it is impossible to have an immediate referendum. This demand needs to be reformulated.
4. Education Reforms: The term “State of Emergency” is meaningless without clearer articulation
Read 5 tweets
Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
15 Oct
In the next few polls, let us try to isolate the issues around #EnsSARS and #EndSWAT. Do you agree that the @PoliceNG needs a specially trained and disciplined team that will tackle violent crime by dangerous criminals like armed robbers and not innocent citizens? Please vote.
Do you agree that any special police team created to tackle genuine criminals like armed robbers and kidnappers should not engage in stop and search of innocent citizens and youth, including harassing young people with phones, laptops and nice cars?
Do you agree that any special tactical team created to tackle armed robbery, kidnapping, bank robbery and kidnapping should not ordinarily be visible to the public and should only be called in when normal police cannot cope?
Read 6 tweets
Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
14 Oct
I would like to explain my comments below, as it seems to have been misconstrued by some. I am not against the Youth identifying people that can engage with the government. Indeed, there is a danger that the movement will eventually fizzle out unless they do. Thread...
In an earlier thread, I had suggested that the Youth identify the best people to engage on their behalf with government at the highest levels. Please see the quoted tweet and thread. The challenge is the HOW. Apply your minds to the how. You are smart enough to think it through.
Therefore, my brother @OgbeniDipo did nothing wrong in proposing his own list and inviting a debate around it. My reference to “Ariwo ko ni music” was meant to convey that a good activist is not necessarily a good implementer. You need the activist but also the implementer.
Read 12 tweets
Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
12 Oct
How do we solve this #SARSMUSTEND situation so that more people do not die? My 10-point approach:
1. The President, as the Chief Operational Controller of the Nigerian Police Force should order the Police to stop using live bullets on unarmed protesters.
Thread...
2. The President or the VP should take visible personal charge of the situation, since the IGP has clearly lost credibility in the eyes of the public.
3. The IGP should consider stepping down to save more lives, or should be encouraged to do so. He is due to go soon anyway.
4. Although there is a lot of JUSTIFIABLE anger (especially with continuing killings), protests should continue to be peaceful and non-violent. Violent miscreants should be isolated, ostracised and reported as enemies of the reform cause.
Read 6 tweets
Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
4 Oct
Today, the IG @PoliceNG announced a ban on SARS and other tactical units. Do I believe that that is the end of the problem? Oh NO! However, I am a public service reformer. A very important tactic in reforms is to get an anti-reformer to publicly commit to reforms. Short thread...
Quite often, the anti-reformer makes that commitment several times but doesn’t fulfill it. That’s no reason to be despondent. The more the anti-reformer reluctantly commits to reforms, the harder it is for them to pretend that they don’t know that wrong things are happening.
The next thing that will happen is that following the “ban”, there may been an upsurge in crime. Some of the banned officers will ensure that this upsurge happens and worries the public. The IGP will say “Although I committed to banning SARS, I can’t watch armed robbery go up.”
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Joe Abah Profile picture
3 Oct
THE STORY OF IBRAHIM AND BLESSING. At today's webinar on 'Rebuilding our National Values System story of Ibrahim and Blessing, two young Nigerians. In a way, they are both victims of Nigeria. In another way, they help to perpetuate the problems with our value system. Thread...
Did you know that Ibrahim is the most common name in Nigeria? Ibrahim’s father is a career politician who has never done any real work in his life. When it was time for Ibrahim to write his WAEC and JAMB exams, his father paid someone to write them for him.
At university, Ibrahim quickly joined a cult and by the time he was at 200 level was already an accomplished rapist. Ibrahim never read for one day. He relied on paying lecturers for marks (a practice known as “sorting”) and intimidating those that initially refused to be sorted.
Read 16 tweets

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