Endsars Protest: A Call For The Eradication Of Corruption In Nigeria

Endsars Protest: A Call For The Eradication Of Corruption In Nigeria

Chapiter 1

Introduction

1.1 The Study’s Background

Nigerians, like those in the majority of developing nations, frequently face numerous dangers to their life and well-being. These include marginalization, the denial and suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms, extreme poverty, high unemployment rates, violence, and brutality. Even if democratic institutions have taken the place of the military dictatorships of the past, minority voices were nonetheless silenced and frequently lack access to appropriate channels for voicing their complaints. Those who needed democracy the most have not reaped its purported advantages. In these circumstances, protesting has emerged as a necessary means for individuals to air their concerns, demand change in their circumstances, and voice their thoughts (Shigetomi, 2009).

Since Nigeria gained independence from Britain as a country in 1960, it has experienced a number of protests, mostly in the form of general strikes, boycotts, and large-scale demonstrations organized and led by labor unions, youth movements, and social activists to drive home a variety of demands and grievances. Demands for higher pay, better living conditions, an end to extreme poverty, insecurity, bad governance, brutality, corruption, and liberation from repressive military rule are among the main concerns of these demonstrations.

The prevalence of corruption in modern society is a sign of many different problems. Usually, there are multiple parties involved. It adopts the appearance of organized criminality. Nigeria was placed 144th out of 146 nations in Transparency International’s perception rating, surpassing Bangladesh and Haiti to claim the bottom spot. An analysis of Nigeria’s anti-graft and anti-corruption laws reveals that corruption will persist despite the laws because of the lack of fear on the part of the offenders. The awarding of contracts, staff advancement, the administration of justice, the misuse of public positions, the misappropriation of public funds, the brutality of uniformed men toward the populace, insecurity, and poor governance are all examples of corruption.Practically speaking, a protest is a public display of opposition to or disapproval of a political ideology or course of action. The pinnacle of this protest, which can take many different forms, is when the people take to the streets to publicly voice their complaints to the government.

The movement to end SARS began in 2017 when young people in Nigeria used the hashtag to discuss the violence and assault committed by the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). However, the campaign wasn’t rekindled until the beginning of October 2020, when footage of police officers—possibly from the SARS unit—allegedly shooting an unarmed young man surfaced. This caused young people in Nigeria to take to Twitter to demand police reform from the Federal Government using the hashtags #EndSARS, #Endpolicebrutality, and numerous more. The hashtag was constantly trending on Twitter as young Nigerians shared their suffering and struggles.

A social media meme claimed that members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS had shot and killed a Nigerian teenager before stealing his car and fleeing with it. The hashtag #ENDSARS began to gain traction as the video gained popularity on social media as more young people sought an end to the violent police unit that has been abusing young Nigerians for years. However, the main goal of this movement is to put an end to uniformed men’s aggression toward unarmed citizens, which is a sign of corruption.

1.2 Statement of the problem:

Disenchantment among the electorate, particularly the youth, who make up 51% of the population, has been attributed to Nigeria’s poor socioeconomic performance, human rights violations, pervasive poverty, insecurity, corruption, and lack of trust in the political system. This is significant in a population of more than 200 million individuals, more than 60% of whom are under 25 (NPC, 2006).The poor level of fundamental infrastructure, the inadequate healthcare and educational systems, the high unemployment rate, and the number of children who are not in school are just a few examples of how terrible governance has a human cost. There is a perception that the results of inadequate governance would eventually affect everyone, regardless of socioeconomic position. However, the recent demonstrations by young Nigerians against police brutality, known as the EndSARS protests, served as a wake-up call and made many Nigerians’ egregious human rights abuses at the hands of the institution designed to protect them public knowledge. The demonstrations revealed the youth’s frustration with national governance more so than their anger at the police. Nigerians are increasingly asking that the government implement levels of good governance to address the underlying causes of poverty, insecurity, violations of human rights, and socioeconomic instability. #Young Nigerians from all religious and racial backgrounds came together because of EndSARS. Despite their disagreements, the majority of protestors were unified in their opposition to police violence, which was a major factor in the protest’s national growth. This study aims to show how the implication of the ENDSARS protest—a call for the eradication of corruption in Nigeria—is related to the ongoing police brutality and violations of human rights in Nigeria.

1.3 Study’s Objective

This study’s main goal is to analyze the ENDSARS protest as a plea to end corruption in Nigeria.

to investigate the origin of the Nigerian ENDSARS protest.

to investigate the tactics used to carry out the ENDSARS demonstration.

to ascertain the degree to which the ENDSARS protest demanded that corruption be eliminated in Nigeria.

1.4 The Study’s Perspective

This study’s general focus is on the effects of the ENDSARS protest, which demanded that corruption be eliminated in Nigeria. The study will specifically look at ENDSARS activities in Nigeria utilizing Delta and Edo state as a case study.

1.5 Question For Research.

1. What were the root causes of the Nigerian ENDSARS protest?

2. What tactics did the ENDSARS demonstrators propose to air their grievances?

3. To what extent did the ENDSARS protest strengthen the case for Nigeria’s fight against corruption?

1.6 Impact Of The Study

The whole public would benefit from this study, but it will be particularly significant in the reasons listed below:

It will reveal the youth’s discontentment with authorities who are supposed to be protecting them from the ongoing violations of their human rights.

It would make the government aware of the necessity to look into the wrongdoing and operations of Nigeria’s security agencies.

It will raise attention to the critical need for effective law enforcement agency reforms and clarify their authority to guarantee that they do not violate human rights while performing their jobs.

It will act as a guide for future research on this subject or one that is related for researchers and students.

1.7 Study Limitation

The following are the study’s main limitations:

Financial restraint: A researcher’s ability to collect data (through the internet, a questionnaire, and interviews) and locate relevant materials, literature, or information is often hindered by a lack of funding.

Time restraint: The researcher will do this investigation together with other academic activities at the same time. As a result, less time will be spent on the research project.

1.8 Term Definition

Corruption is a sort of dishonesty or a criminal act committed by a person or group in a position of authority in order to obtain illegal benefits or exploit that position for personal advantage.

Eradication: The process of entirely eliminating or destroying anything undesirable.

ENDSARS:End SARS is a decentralized social movement and a string of large-scale demonstrations in Nigeria against police brutality. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious Nigerian Police force with a long history of abuses, is to be disbanded, according to the government.