Minors’ Collapse Saga: Any Lessons Learnt?

Ayo Oyoze Baje

Quote: “Hear me. No ruler has ever won against their people forever. Check history…When those children came out to protest asking you to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, they were telling you the “Truth and nothing but the Truth”. I hope you start listening to what majority of your Citizens especially these children are telling you daily: “Ebi npawa” , “we are hungry”.”

-Obi Ezekesili (In her letter to President Ahmed Tinubu)

Viewed from a broad national perspective, the recent release of the 76 #EndBadGovernance protesters, who are minors, by the federal government after the nationwide outrage sparked off  by the collapse of four of them at an Abuja High Court while on trial for treason has brought to the public sphere some pertinent issues with regards to our nationhood.

It has indeed shown the failure of the family unit; the failure of the delivery of quality education to our youths, the failure of the correct upbringing of our children to have any form of allegiance to Nigeria as a nation.

Beyond all of that, it has also exhibited the gross lack of the political capacity by the Nigerian leaders to strike the delicate balance between morality and the dispensation of justice.

It would be recalled that the minors were apprehended during the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest in Kano, Abuja, Gombe, Jos and Katsina states on August 2, 2024 and charged for treason, for flying the Russian flag and also turning the protest violent.

Subsequently, the court decided, in response to public outcry to grant the defendants bail in the sum of N10 million each, as the prosecutor asked that the names of the four minors who collapsed be removed from the charges.

READ ALSO: EndSars: Lagos, Sanwo-Olu Allegedly Set To Bury103 Massacred Protesters

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Lagos Govt Speaks On Purported Mass Burial For 103 EndSars Massacred Protesters

Ever since, the ugly incident has elicited a wave of condemnation from concerned Nigerians from within and outside the country. For instance, while Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a barrister of law representing Kogi state Central Senatorial and District described it as “inhumane and unjust”, Obi Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education in her letter to President Ahmed Tinubu stated that: “Here is the sordid evidence of the Nigerian government punishing your citizens for daring to tell you the truth of #EndBadGovernance by your administration”.

On her part, the Yoruba Nollywood actress, Bukola Arugba openly decried the incident by stating that: ” I find this appalling and annoying”. Also trending from the United Kingdom, the Founder I-A Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo pleaded with the federal government to show restraint in the trial of the minors.

Though the former governor of Kano state, Rabiu Kwankwaso slammed the federal government through a sarcastic statement urging it to: “Face the challenges of banditry, kidnapping, Boko Haram rather than putting children behind bars”, there is more to the dehumanizing incident that deserves a critical insight.

On his part, the legal luminary and the one who stood in defence of the maltreated minors, Femi Falana has called for both compensation for the voiceless victims and their being integrated into the education system by being sponsored to school. Well stated.

In fact, this moment calls for sober reflection for us all-as parents, techers, religious leaders and of course political decision makers – to learn some hard and bitter lessons from all that transpired between the #EndBadGovernance protests in August and this moment.

Given the situation on ground, we cannot but ask for the unveiling of the masterminds who pushed the minors to the rowdy streets and armed them with the flag of a foreign country, Russia, to be precise. Has that any linkage whatsoever to the neighboring Republic of Niger, which in partnership with Mali and Burkina Faso have links with Russia and exited the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS)?

Yet, there are other worrisome aspects to the despicable issue that has de-branded Nigeria before the International community.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Is Going Too Far –Amnesty International

The fact that UNICEF has raised concern over the scary figure of 69% out-of-school children in Nigeria, numbering up to 15.23 million belonging to northern Nigeria, and the World Food Program (WFP) has revealed that an estimated 4.4 million malnourished children, all under the tender age of 5 years are from the northern geo-political zone should be food-for-thought for the northern governors, senators, religious leaders, heads and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)down to the local government chairmen.

The detention and manhandling of th minors has also brought up some legal misinterpretations. In spite of the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigerian Police, Muyiwa Ogunjobi insisting that once a citizen is beyond the age of seven years the fellow can be charged to court for criminal acts, some lawyers have their own interpretations.

Speaking from her wealth of experience in the field of law, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has called on the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun to investigate the detention order granted by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

According to her, children should be tried in a juvenile court and their identities protected, not displayed or publicized, as has been done. She has also called on the Controller of Prisons, Haliru Nababa to investigate the detention conditions.

And this is because the Kuje Medium Security Custodian Centre was not designed for the detention of children.

One cannot but align his position on this legal premise; with the aim to strike the needed balance between legality and the protection of the sanctity of precious human life.

So, much as one appreciates the directive given by the Attorney General of Federation, Lateef Fagbemi for the police to transfer the case file to his office, and hand over to the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), as well as moving the adjournment date from January next year to an earlier date, one is pleased to note that Mister President bowed  to the call of concerned Nigerians.

As a way out of the socio-political wood and to prevent a repeat of this querulous incident of youths being drafted into protests they know little about, this should serve as a wake-up call on parents, teachers, religious and political leaders to deploy the Root Cause Analytical Approach (RCAA) to finding lasting solutions to the critical issue at hand. That brings up the all-important questions.

READ ALSO: President Tinubu Has Totally Betrayed Niger Delta –Asari Dokubo

As a parent, am I there providing for their feeding, education and general welfare as at when due? Do I guide them right with the moral compass and monitor their movements?  As a teacher, am I providing them with quality education delivery, acting as a concerned parent away from the pupils/students’ homes?

As a religious leader, am I mentoring the youths right on the solid paths of the fear of God and treating others as we would want them to treat us? Credible answers to these all-important questions would go a long way towards building a Nigeria of the dream of our Founding Fathers.

All said, it is not enough for the Founder of the Coalition of the Northern Youth Group, asking President Tinubu to prosecute the police behind the arrest of the minors.  Now is the time for the northern leaders to mitigate the swirling waves of malnutrition, out-of-school syndrome and youth restiveness.

Also important is for the government to admit to its faults. As Ezekwesili rightly noted: “No one can ever solve a problem they deny or refuse to own up to”. Prevention through good governance would definitely be better than cure.