Missing EndSARS Protest By 18 Inches

According to a popular Aphorism “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty”.
To underscore the significance of this statement, this notable maxim has been expressed in different fields of human endeavour by leaders and scholars of varied backgrounds.
It is on record that a British lawyer, John Philpott – Curran, used it in 1790 while discussing rules for electing the Lord Major of London, US writer Thomas U.P. Chalton used it in 1809 in the book – The Life of Major General James Jackson; U.S. President Andrew Jackson’s Farewell address in 1837 and American social reformer Frederick Donglas used it in 1845 during the fight against slavery and racial discrimination, among others.
As if that was not enough, Irish poet Edmund Burke once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
It is, therefore, expedient for good people and citizens alike to contribute meaningfully to societal growth and development by standing up against evil, injustice and police brutality as well as bad governance.
In this regard, the recent peaceful EndSARS Protest nationwide remains germain for a better Nigeria to evolve, more so as such peaceful protest is guaranteed under the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is also commendable to observe the ability of Nigerian youths to organize themselves non-violently.
For instance, one cannot forget in a hurry how Christian youths protected Muslims during Friday prayer service and vice-versa on Sunday during Christians church service while the peaceful EndSARS protest lasted.
Better still, were the five points demand which included immediate release of arrested protesters, justice for deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for affected families and setting up of an independent body to investigate and oversee the investigation and reports of police misconduct within 10 days.
Others are psychological evaluation and retraining of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed and increment in police salaries and other welfare packages.
In all, the common denominator from the five-point demand is a clarion call for police reform and end to bad governance.
Unfortunately, the EndSARS protest was hijacked by hoodlums that led to the destruction of lives and property across the nation as well as looting of warehouses, particularly where COVID-l9 palliatives were allegedly kept.
The Lekki Toll Gate saga, burning of police stations and killing of security operatives nationwide, were some of the ugly sides of the EndSARS protest.
However, the handling of the aftermath of EndSARS protest has opened another cankerworm in government-citizens engagement process. For instance, in Lagos State at first, Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu denied inviting the army but the army has refuted the claim saying that soldiers invaded Lekki Toll Gate on the invitation of the governor.
Worse still was the challenge of killing of two protesters, the controversy over the use of ‘massacre’ as used by U.S Cable News Network (CNN) and use of rubber or live bullet, etc.
This is not to trivialize the federal government’s order requesting security operatives to go after hoodlums and recover looted items as the CBN freezes bank accounts of sponsors of the EndSARS protest.
This dramatic turn of events has left many unanswered questions in the polity. For instance, one may ask, is the leadership, particularly the political class, concerned about the welfare of the citizenry?
What should be the proper thing to do, ordering security operatives to identify hoodlums and recover looted items but cannot identify citizens who are to benefit from the distribution of palliatives.
It is surprising that the CBN can easily identify and freeze the bank accounts of alleged leaders of EndSARS protesters but cannot do same to corrupt public officials and sponsors of Boko Haram.
To this end, the character of the federal government does not show that the welfare of Nigerians is dear to the heart of political leaders. This is where the Holy Bible in Matthew 12:34 comes to mind: when it says “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. As if that is not enough, the Bible book of Jeremiah 17: 9-10 states thus: “The heart of a man is desperately wicked”.
It is common knowledge that the head-knowledge of the system of government alone is not good enough to engender good governance and peaceful co-existence but heart-knowledge of citizens and governance.
It is pertinent to state that the distance between the head and heart is 18 inches. Unfortunately, the distance of 18 inches is responsible for the disconnect between the leadership and followership or the entire citizenry.
The political class and, indeed, the leadership do not exhibit good conscience in the management of men and resources resulting in the call for reform and restructuring of not only the police but the Nigerian State.
It is worrying that more than two months after the EndSARS protest, police brutality and extra-judicial killing by the police across the country are on the rise.
It is on record that in Rivers State a police officer reportedly shot and killed a tricycle (keke) driver at Rukpokwu and Jimoh Abiodun was killed by a police officer attached to Elelenwo Police Station all in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area while the case of the famous Ikoku 4 involving the death of Chima Okwunado is ongoing in court.
To truly address the challenge of police brutality and in turn bridge the distance between head and heart, Demand No. 4 by EndSARS campaigners must be accorded priority attention.
The demand requested for psychological evaluation of men and officers of the defunct F-SARS before redeploying them; as well as retraining police nationwide.
According to the Chairman, Nigerian Association of Clinical Psychologists; Rivers State Chapter, Mrs. Ada Maduka: “Psychological test is used to assesses the personality of an individual to determine the functionality—that is how a person is able to function in carrying out his/her assignment.
Mrs. Maduka concluded thus: ‘It is also used to find out if there is an underlying psycho-pathology—that is question about emotionality of an individual”.
Similarly, a psychiatric consultant, Dr Fisayo Adesokun, corroborated the need for psychological evaluation of policemen and women to ascertain the mental fitness of the personnel in a workforce.
“It is used by the authorities to check whether a staff has a mental health challenge that needs to be addressed”.
The duo identified what they called Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI – 2) as the common scientific tool for psychological evaluation.
Speaking on the domains of learning, a Professor of Industrial Technology Education and Director, Institute of Education, Rivers State University, Professor Paulinus Okwelle, identified cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domains as strategic in transforming learners and the three are represented by the 3H; namely Head, Heart and Hand.
Simply put, learning is said to have taken place when the behaviour of the learner has changed for the better in these domains of human being.
According to him, knowledge, comprehension, synthesis belong to the cognitive domain, feeling, emotion, behaviour, attitude, character and characterization relate to affective domain while ability to use the hand, display of skill is a function of psycho-motor.
In other words, acquisition of knowledge via training is not all there is for a better policing but having the right attitude and character which are functions of heart and affective domain.
Thus, prioritizing psychological evaluation of police officers is key in the task of ending police brutality and reform in the police force.
This means that the EndSARS protest’s Demand No.4 is challenging the mental faculty of the police force with respect to the required knowledge and attitude necessary for a better policing.
Nigerians demand more than orderly room trial of recalcitrant police men who shoot and kill every citizen at the slightest provocation or mere query of unjustifiable use of riffle to kill Nigerians …
The distance to cover is only 18 inches, being the distance between the head and the heart, which could be achieved through the proper conduct of psychological evaluation of the entire Nigerian Police Force.
Sika is a Port Harcourt-based public affairs analyst.