For the courageous and relentless use of the digital space, musical art and entertainment in demanding true change and a better polity, the Editors and Editorial Advisers of The Culture Newspaper (TCN) have unanimously chosen the Nigerian Youth as the newspaper’s Culture Icon of the Year for 2020.
In making their choice, the Editors considered the impact of covid19 pandemic on the Culture and Creative space in the better part of year 2020 as well as the #endsars protest and concluded that for their fearless voice in the creative landscape and their never-say-die spirit in a remarkably challenging year, the Nigerian Youth emminently qualify as the harbinger of hope and reliable culture ambassadors in a period that fresh voices and new ideas are in dire need within a troubled polity.
Most candidly, the month of October was arguably one of the most memorable in the year 2020 for the Nigerian Youth as it witnessed what has been described by many as a true movement, almost unprecedented in demanding an end to police brutality that often targets the youths as well as demand a general reform in policing and national security operations.
Not only did the Nigerian youths led the awe-inspiring protest before it was criminally infiltrated and hijacked by hoodlums, looters and arsonists, they also employed a most impressive use of the social media and entertainment in sustaining the agitation for #endsars and appeal for a better Nigeria for several days.
Wearing the toga of youths and the young at heart, several creatives and celebrities, especially in the music and film industry, joined the popular even if somewhat controversial call to end the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an hitherto notorious unit of the Nigerian police force esoecially in Lagos, Anambra and some other states.
They also helped amplify the calls seeking an end to police brutality and demand lasting reforms across the country.
The #EndSARS protests had started as a virtual protest on Twitter but soon metamorphosed into a movement that many entertainers, mostly youths, keyed into after a good number of them affirmed being victims despite their fame.
The movement had started as a campaign in 2017 but gained renewed traction in 2020 after operatives of the now defunct SARS police unit reportedly killed a young man in Delta State and made away with his car – a Lexus SUV, among other alleged cases of harassment, unlawful detention, extortion, torture and extrajudicial killings.
Unyielding Nigerian youths made the movement a global conversation with the hashtag dominating most social media platforms and generating millions of tweets.
Nigerian young entertainers were at the forefront of the protests when many took to the streets in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Benin and several other cities in Southern Nigeria.
Youthful celebrities like Falz, Davido, Wizkid, Mr. Eazi, Runtown, Wurld, DJ Spinall, Dija, Omah Lay, Flavour, Seun Kuti, DJ Switch, Phyno, Kcee, Cheque, Zoro, Jaywon, Tacha, Anto, Elozonam, Prince and Laycon, who had won the Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition all took to the streets and used their large social media followings to drive what is now regarded as arguably the best coordinated and executed popular protest in Nigeria.
Others creatives who are young at heart like Femi Kuti, Dbanj, Ubi Franklin, Idris Abdulkareem, Dede Mabiaku, Mr. P and Rudeboi (of the P Squaire fame), Who Makun, Odunlade Adekola, Iyabo Ojo, Bolaji Amusan, and Toyin Abraham all showed solidarity with the protesters, hailing the courageous Nigerian youths.
Also, social media Influencers like Rinu Oduala, Mr. Macaroni, Moe Odele, Temitope Majekodunmi and a host of others also played vital roles in seeking the desired change. Other young creatives also contributed their quota either by crowdsourcing funds and providing legal and medical aid at no cost.
Singer Davido was able to schedule a meeting with the Inspector-General of Police to dialogue and present the demands of protesters to the police chief in a bid to bring an end to the face-off between protesters and police officers on the streets of Abuja; while his colleague, Wizkid, staged a peaceful protest at the Nigerian Embassy in London.
Burna Boy, who was also in London but couldn’t join the physical protest, deployed billboards speaking against police brutality in major cities across the country.
It was the efforts of these Nigerian young creatives and many more that spurred international celebrities such as John Boyega, Kanye West, Celine Dion, Trey Songz, Chance The Rapper, Estelle and Nasty C, among others, to tweet and comment in solidarity with the movement within 72 hours of going viral.
The protests were largely peaceful across the country until hoodlums hijacked and used it as a cover to plunder and pillage public as well as private facilities in many states until order was restored gradually.
Nevertheless, the clamour for change paid off as police authorities succumbed to the pressure and eventually disbanded the dreaded SARS unit while state governments inaugurated Special Judicial Panels to investigate allegations levelled against the defunct unit by aggrieved citizens.
Nigerian youths, derisively tagged “the WhatsApp generation”, before the demonstrations, because were perceived by many to concern themselves majorly with frivolities instead of germane issues affecting everyday lives. However, In October 2020, the youths became the “sorosoke” (speup up) generation who rose to the challenge to say that social media has become a veritable tool at their disposal to effect positive change; and more importantly that musical entertainment too has become a necessary ingredient in pulling the youths out and making them retain focus for days on end where popular street protests are concerned.
It is for this reasons that the culture-conscious, social media-savvy and entertainung Nigerian Youth is TCN’s Culture Icon of the Year 2020
