#ENDSARS protests, strong signal to address poor state of economy – CSLS

CSL Stockbrokers Limited, a member of the FCMB Group, has said the Nigerian government needs to see the lingering #ENDSARS protests in the country as a strong signal to address the poor state of the economy and prioritise the issues affecting the youth.

Analysts at CSLS noted on Friday that youths across the country had taken to the streets in the past few days to protest against the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, which has long been accused of unlawful arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings.

The Federal Government was forced to announce on Sunday that SARS had been dissolved with immediate effect. But this did not bring an end to the protests as the protesters said that similar announcements had been made in the past without any effective reform measures.

On Tuesday, the police announced a new unit, tagged the Special Weapons and Tactics team, which effectively would take over the duties of the defunct SARS.

But shortly after this announcement, social media was awash with a new hashtag, #EndSWAT.

“Public perception of the Nigerian police is largely negative. There have been several calls and efforts geared towards a reform of the police force over the years but these have not led to any significant improvement in police service delivery,” CSLS said in a note.

According to the analysts, insecurity remains one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria today and the police is central to responding to these challenges.

They said, “The protests, in our view, point to more than a clamour for an end to police brutality but rather to a growing frustration among the Nigerian youth about the state of the economy.

“The protesters, who typically are youths below the age of 30, are a part of the Nigerian population that have never seen the system work.”

The analysts listed erratic power supply, widespread unemployment, poor healthcare, poor educational system characterised by incessant strikes among the issues causing “growing frustrations in the minds of these young people”.

“In our view, the Nigerian government needs to see this as a strong signal to not only address the poor state of the economy but to prioritise the issues concerning the young people in the country,” they added.