For sometime now, Nigeria as a state has being restive with widespread civil unrest. These far-flung agitations having inflamed the country’s cyberspace, has further being corroborated by street protests in most metropolitan settlements within the country and even in diaspora.

These public demonstrations fueled by a potent chemistry of social forces has over the years been brewing beneath the surface of the Nigerian polity, and its outburst has been engendered by the high rate of brutality that innocent Nigerians have overtime being subjected to by officers of the Nigerian Police Force, which particularly, the accusing fingers of the masses are pointed at the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the force. This clamour has recently taken a new dimension as the anti-SARS campaign has further stemmed into different branches of agitations such as the crusade against the increased rate of insecurity in Northern Nigeria, colloquially couched in the terms of“secure North”.A critical examination of these,poses a lot of questions as to what the future holds for Nigeria and can as well be viewed as a harbinger heralding the dawn of a new era.

Taking a backward flip through the pages of time, it is an established fact that Nigeria is not the first to cruise through this stormy sea of trouble. Taking cognizance of the fact that historical events acts as aninterpreter of present situations and as a compass pointing the pathwayto the future, the array of issues displayed in the national gallery of public contention has loads of significance on Nigeria’s fate as a nation.

Critical comparative analysis of Nigeria’s current statewill posit that our situation is not far-fetched from what was obtainable in the pre-revolutionaryperiod of France. History has it that the build up to the French Revolution in 1789 was characterized by a high level of social distress. This social distress emanated from the long-standing societal patterns of the French feudal system where affluence and power was reposed on a selected few within the classes of the noble and the clergy. Meanwhile, the lower class who constituted the majority of the populace were left in penury and servitude to the noble class and clergy. As the population of France geometrically increased from 18 million to 26 million in less than a century, it became very difficult to conceal and contain the socio-economic inequality in existence as the rage of the masses soared higher with the increased level of unemployment,accompaniedby the sharp rises in food prices and exorbitant tax rates, disproportionately borne by the lower class who were already suffering from a collapse in real wage occasioned by the aftermath of the military defeat against England.These factors coupled with the extant political tumult at the time gave birth to the mass agitations against King Louis XVI and feudalism which led to the occurrence of the French Revolution and its subsequent climax on 10th August, 1892.

In a similar manner, the dizzy turn of events in Nigeria over the years has been characterized by a variety of political cum socio-economic crises. Widespread insecurity across the length and breath of the country, high unemployment rate, mass embezzlement of public funds, disproportionality of the high cost of living to the low rate of public remuneration, hike of tariffs and rates, are all but a few to mention of such incongruities that defines the state of daily existence for Nigerians. Nigerians have overtime exhibited a stoic and benign disposition towards all these difficulties and the fervent acts of police brutality on the people has only acted as a catalyst for them to release their pent-up rage. Therefore, these public demonstrations goes beyond the Call to end SARS alone, rather, it is a latent reaction of Nigerians to the accumulated misdirection and inactions of the government on these pertinent issues.

If history really does repeat itself, then it won’t be wrong to reckon that Nigeria is following in the strides of the pre-revolutionary period of France in the 1780s. The mass protests across the nation is a true reflection of the masses’ desire for an ideal change to be made in the status quo. The failure of the government to effectively manage the increasing difficulties in the country is very similar to the situation of France centuries ago.

Hence, the federal government of Nigeria needs to take drastic actions to quell down the embers of rage smoldering in the minds of the people by properly addressing their yearnings and setting the reverse gear in motion on certain decisions of national concern. A deaf ear to the people’s chants might just be ushering in the stiff hands of historical antecedents to act as the umpire in the determination of our dear nation’s fate.

Audu Prince Fater,

300 Level Law Student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

[email protected]