Every Generation MUST ……

Opeyemi Adamolekun

“Every generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”

– Frantz Fanon

On February 26, 2010, Chude Jideonwo sent an email titled “Where is the Outrage?” about the state of the nation to a few people. 

If the present government realizes that it can do anything and get away with it, then we are doomed.

But how can we be doomed when we actually have the power to make our voices heard? At The Future Awards 2010, many young people heard clearly when the Keynote Speaker, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said “In Nigeria, generation Y, 70% of our population of 105 million is under 30 years old.” We are in the majority. We have the power to actually make change happen. So what is our excuse? What will we tell our children – that we lay down and took whatever they hit us with?

No. Listen guys, whatever industry we work in, no matter how much money we have, if Nigeria becomes a failed state, we will all suffer! We all have a stake in this! We will be unable to drive our flashy cars and have the great events and do fine dinners if we have no country!

This rally will be the first phase. Other things will come up later. But this one we have to do first. This is the one we need you for. This is one we have to make a statement with.

This is our country; our duty; our future.

I wasn’t one of the recipients, but the actions that followed that email would change the course of my life. Chude was 24 years old at the time and he couldn’t understand why young people were spending time on social media while Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, and Tunde Bakare, under the banner of the “Save Nigeria Group (SNG),” were on the streets protesting a future that was less about them. President Yar’adua was MIA, there were killings in Jos, there was no electricity, and fuel scarcity had returned. 

In 18 days, with heavy lifting from Adebola Williams, Chioma Chuka and a few others, the #EnoughIsEnough protest was organised to the National Assembly in Abuja on March 16, 2010. The day was incidentally Chude’s 25th birthday. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Waje, Dele Momodu, Stella Damasus, Audu Maikori, Omawumi, Charly Boy and Efe Omoregbe (2Face/2Baba’s Manager) were some of the pop culture icons that participated in the protest. I was invited to join the protests by my friend, Bisola Edun, and it sounded like good fun! Another protest followed in Lagos on April 13th. The #EnoughIsEnough protests in Abuja and Lagos led to the birth of Enough is Enough Nigeria, aka EiE Nigeria aka EiE! I have now led EiE for fourteen years.

 In October 2020, young Nigerians were frustrated with the Nigeria Police Force, especially the SARS Unit that harassed youth with tech gadgets and unconventional hairstyles, tagging them as fraudsters. An incident in Benin triggered the #EndSARS protests that would see a reincarnation of young Nigerians across all strata – entrepreneurs, professionals, pop culture icons – lend their voices, resources and time to express their frustration via street protests. The protests in Lagos, the epicentre were led by young Nigerians like Rinu Oduala, who was 22 years old at the time. A prominent organising hub was the Feminist Coalition – young women in their twenties who mobilised and deployed financial resources to ensure the nationwide protests had legal support, food & water, and protection. The #EndSARS protests ended when the federal government opened fire and murdered innocent protesters. Some of the #EndSARS energy was repackaged to support a 3rd force – Peter Obi – in the 2023 presidential elections. The elections were unfortunately rigged when technology was jettisoned as legal guidelines were ignored.

It’s now March 2025, and the outrage is still there—expressed through content and conversations—but there’s a reduced appetite for street protests and governance-related matters. Nevertheless, silence is not an option. During the #EndSARS protests, most young people were unaware of the #EnoughIsEnough protests, which had happened ten years before. The #EndSARS protests are still raw, but in another five, ten years, what will people remember? Maybe the increased use of technology and social media platforms would ensure the stories are not lost.

Beyond the stories of what young people did and the lives lost, how will young people respond to leadership that has no vision and consistently shows in words and actions that it is not interested in building a Nigeria that allows its citizens to maximise their potential and fulfill their dreams? It’s even more interesting because the current president knows civil society well. He has funded and participated in protests and opposition politics. And in a nation where even the “middle class” are struggling, from where will the resistance come?

Young people are finding ways to make things work despite government, and we see it exemplified in the arts – music, fashion, movies, painting. But there are some things only the government can do at scale – education, healthcare, and infrastructure topping that list. Four states in the region with the poorest education outcomes have chosen to close down all primary and secondary schools for 5 weeks during Ramadan. Schools in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remain open. What exactly are we doing? Patients are dying at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan because there is no electricity to power the hospital. UCH used to be Nigeria’s best hospital. Our institutions are another area that has been badly hit – the judiciary being a prime example. You don’t have to look further than the fiasco in Rivers and Kano states.

The list is endless and the direct impact on our lives tells the story well. However, a government that receives no pushback and has no consequences to its “anyhow” behaviour will continue to behave “anyhow”. As in 2010 and 2020, the people who have the most to lose are Nigeria’s youth. In 15 years, EiE has tried to help citizens connect the dots and engage governance from their “Office of the Citizen” because public servants are servants of the public; the people. We have made some progress, but there’s still much more to do. From wards to local governments to states, young people must mobilise their numbers to understand that they still have the power to change Nigeria’s trajectory. Citizens who understand their power to elect and hold those in public office accountable can truly move mountains! No messiah is coming from anywhere as current global affairs remind us. 

How will you respond?

Evil is amplified when good people choose to be silent. I will not be silent.

-Opeyemi

Adamolekun is the Executive Director, Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria (www.eie.ng), which she has led for fourteen years.