Good Afternoon Sense-ibles,
There is so much happening around the world right now. I want to draw your attention to Nigeria.
Horror and shock are the two words that sum up how Nigeria is feeling after people in Lagos, many of them draped in the green and white colours of the national flag were fired upon by men in military camouflage while taking part in a protest against police brutality.
"We were sitting on the ground and singing the Nigerian national anthem and most of us had flags in our hands and we raised it up," an eyewitness, who asked not to be named, told the BBC.
"Then they opened fire directly straight at us and they kept on advancing and advancing. One or two people got hit. Everybody got up and it became total chaos," he said.
It had been dusk when the trouble began - two hours after a curfew had just come into force in Nigeria's commercial hub. The curfew had been imposed on Tuesday to stem protests which had begun against the much-hated police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars), and had morphed into greater calls for better governance.
The #EndSARS movement is a gateway to many more movements that will be birthed in a country that may actually shake off its institutional impassivity. Nigerian youth want a new normal. They are demanding change, with energy and momentum on their side. We in the diaspora must lend our support at this crucial time. We have to see more than meets the eye.
This is the beginning of a meaningful change in Nigeria and it’s going to take a village. The Nigerian diaspora can no longer simply go to Nigeria for #DirtyDecember parties and keep silent whilst the country is attempting to shed old skins and embrace the new. We cannot keep up enjoying the culture from afar, downloading music, watching Nigerian films but squinting our eyes at the injustice that engulfs the country.
M.T. Omoniyi
Editor-In-Chief
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Thank you for keeping up with the common sense updates.
Aramide Yusuff
Love this new aesthetic and also a very important message in this update! Thanks, team