Article
#SoroSoke: The Price of Speaking Truth to Power (ENDSARS REMEMBRANCE)
Endsars protesters, Lekki, Lagos Nigeria
It feels just like yesterday that we witnessed the power of a united front. The #EndSARS protest was not just an outcry against police brutality—it was an awakening. For the first time in years, our generation understood the meaning of a protest for and by the people, untainted by political manipulation or hidden agendas. We found our voices and used them with purpose, demanding justice and freedom from oppression. Yet, with every revolution comes a cost.
#EndSARS is more than a historical event; it is a blueprint for the kind of freedom that oppression fears the most. A freedom that cannot be bought or silenced. But tragically, that blueprint was written with the blood, pain, and sacrifice of many. Some were imprisoned, some disappeared, some fled into exile, some suffered brutal injuries, and some paid the ultimate price with their lives.
Endsars protesters
This was made painfully clear on October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Toll Gate, where peaceful protesters waving the Nigerian flag were met with gunfire from security forces. Reports estimate that 12 peaceful protesters were killed, while many more were injured. Some accounts suggest even higher casualties, and several protesters remain unaccounted for to this day. This violent crackdown highlighted the cost of daring to speak out, a cost borne by the young people who stood for justice.
Yet, even in the face of such sacrifices, we’ve seen a dangerous pattern—activists, once passionate about change, lured into complacency by the very system they sought to dismantle. Brothers who once stood beside us in the trenches of advocacy have sold out their values for temporary gains. Injustice has a way of turning the oppressed into betrayers, not through violence, but through something far more insidious—greed.
Before the system resorts to killing activists, it will try to buy or divide them. This is a truth we must all confront as advocates and activists. Our fight is not just with brutality or corruption—it is with the temptation to trade our voice for funding, our integrity for influence. The moment we sell out, we lose the power to speak boldly and act freely. Our voices become muffled by the weight of the financial support we receive from the very oppressors we claim to oppose.
This is where courage comes in. We must be brave enough to discern when our fight is being compromised, when the money offered is meant to silence rather than support. We must remember that greed cannot be our driving force, not when the stakes are so high. Our cause is bigger than any grant or donation. Our work is a continuation of the legacy of those who have sacrificed their lives. If we lose sight of that, we not only betray ourselves but the very people we claim to represent.
The #EndSARS movement pushed back a brutal, radical fireball of oppression, but the fight is far from over. Every activist, every advocate, every voice that rises for justice is part of this ongoing resistance. The system will try to buy us, coerce us, and silence us—but we must remain undistracted, disciplined, and vigilant. We must be wise enough to recognize when we are being manipulated and brave enough to reject it.
We, the young people of Nigeria, have already shown the world what we are capable of. We shook the foundations of a corrupt system and reminded it that the power still belongs to the people. It may take time, but our voices will not be silenced.
To the creatives, the climate justice warriors, the whistleblowers, the community workers, the advocates for women and girls—#SoroSoke.
And to those whose souls are vexed by the evil they see, even if you feel powerless to change it—#SoroSoke.
We speak out because we have no choice. We speak out because silence is no longer an option. We speak out because justice must be served, and we refuse to live as slaves in our own country.
This is our time. This is our movement. #20-10-20 will never be forgotten.
https://youtu.be/cuLqv8j9N_M
Let our voices rise louder than the attempts to buy our silence. Let our actions be driven not by greed but by the passion for a free and just Nigeria.
#SpeakOutLoud #DontStop #UntilJusticeIsServed
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6 w
Our brothers and sister in Nigeria, Let your voices rise louder than for those trying to attempt to buy your silence. Let your actions be driven not by greed but by the passion for a free and just Nigeria. Keep going and demanding justice, its parts of your sdg rights.
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6 w
@patrick_kiash we will keep pushing...
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6 w
Speaking truth to power is not just an act of defiance; it’s a commitment to building a future where every voice is heard and every life matters. Let’s keep the momentum alive and honor their sacrifice by continuing the fight for justice.
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6 w
@princess_nel_268 true