ENDSARS MEMORIAL: ‘MY GREATEST WISH IS THAT WE GET BETTER’ – OLAOLUWA JOLAYEMI
By Trek Africa Newspaper
The memories of last year’s EndSARS protest is one that will linger on in the minds of many Nigerian youths, those that participated and those who didn’t. This fact was re-echoed by Olaoluwa Jolayemi when he participated in last Tuesday’s virtual conversation hosted by ‘Yomi Oyelami on Twitter. The edition of #Reminisense the #TweetChat series which held on 19th October, a day before the first anniversary of the remarkable 20.10.2020 was a fitting salute to the resilience and confidence of Nigerian youths.
Reliving the moment of the EndSARS protest last year, Mr. Jolayemi recalled about his participation, ‘Definitely hybrid. I was part of the first 10 people in Ibadan, along with my younger brother. I also talked in front of my church, educating everyone about why we all had to stand up to police brutality. Then online, I was tweeting and retweeting and tagging every celebrity.’
Though shaken as he recalled the events of 20.10.2020, Olaoluwa rallied himself and noted ‘The day was actually normal for me because we were done with protests in Ibadan. Thugs were starting to run amok so we called everything off. We were just hearing the gist from Twitter. Then I was also watching the IG feed live from DJ switch’s feed and one other guy.’
On the role that negotiation could have played while the impasse lasted, ‘We probably would have achieved more. Also, we would have been able to keep lots more alive. But we also know the precedence of negotiating with the government; they’ll promise heaven and earth and do nothing. That’s the situation we found ourselves.’
‘Well, it’s my greatest wish that we get better. There’s actually light at the end of our tunnel. A way to make sure we see this light is by getting our PVC’, the young Nigerian concluded.
