Youth and State Actors: No Nation K1lls Its Future

Prior to the 2020 ENDSARS protest, at least 7 out of 10 Nigerian Youth aged between 17 and 35, would have faced one form of brutality, a wanton violation of human rights and or a total disdain for the rule of law from state actors, and the protest was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Intended to be the first in the series of good governance demands from the Youth, it was not only slain, but several Nigerian Youth were also murdered in their prime. The few that survived, fled the country for safety, hence the now popular migration parlance, Japa. Japa is a combination of two Yoruba expressions, já | pa, meaning “to flee”. However, it’s more than an expression for migration as it reflects the desperations, hopelessness, and fears of the Youth. Better put, japa means to “flee to safety”.

From pre-colonial era, protests have continued to be a significant aspect of our civil life with different movements and groups addressing inflations, bad governance, unemployment, and insecurity in Nigeria. In 1929, a protest was staged by women in Southeastern Nigeria Abia State labelled Aba women riot against several colonial administration policies. Many years after in 2017, the Nigerian Army clashed with Youth in Abia State after setting up an operation code-named Operation Python Dance ll (Egwu Eke ll) in five states of the Southeastern region. Typical of state actors, actions don’t often march intentions. The military said the operation was to address kidnapping, armed robbery, among other crises in the region. Unfortunately, it only delivered anguish and gnashing of teeth to the people of Abia state.

Leaders had disregarded their criticisms, and, for some youth, it seemed futile to continue struggling for a Nation that seeks to destroy them.

This goes to prove to the international community that the ENDSARS protest of 2020 was not the first time state actors are violating human rights and frustrating the Youth. A writer, Ademolawa Michael Adedipe, in his Play published by Research Gate in 2021 had put it better. Adedipe said; “Python Dance was a brutal Military mission against those they were supposed to protect”. The situation in Nigeria is very scary as participating in any protest against the government is almost tantamount to a criminal offence for which some protesters have spent years in prison, tortured, maimed, killed or forced into exile, especially Youth leaders, protest sponsors or human rights activists.

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When and How Often To Post on Social Media

Follow @davidblawal

I stumbled on this post and thought it useful for everyone who has a thing or two with the Social media space;; managing accounts or marketing brands and products.

One of the most challenging aspects of social media marketing is knowing when and how often to post. Organic posts are most challenging because you are relying on the algorithms to show your content to the right people. If your post isn’t relevant or appealing, people won’t interact with it and it will get pushed down in the news feed.

How To Create GIFs For Use in Journalism

This is a guide to making smoothly looped GIF, or cinemagraph. The process is a combination of two disciplines: making the loop and making the GIF.

It’s important to note up front that in this guide, both of these steps are accomplished with software in the Adobe Creative Suite. Any prosumer-level-or-better video editing software should be able to make the loop with the logic presented here. I’ll use Photoshop to make the GIF since it’s the most comprehensive tool I’ve seen. Other GIF outputters give less control over similar options, so you might still get something out of checking that section out if you don’t have this software.

Poem on Nigeria

 Oh! My Fatherland, I pledged to be faithful, loyal & honest

These I have achieved above average despite circumstances

Why watch me treated as a slave on your soil

Why am I not valued by those steering your wheels

I am like Leah Sharibu before insurgency

What shall happen if my faithfulness is faced with bandit's AK47

What if my daughter is among the 39 from Oyo still in the forest

Finally, R. Kelly faces sex crimes charges

R. Kelly is now facing four sets of separate sex-crime charges, with the newest filed Monday by authorities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced at a news conference in Minneapolis that Kelly is being charged with two counts of prostitution and solicitation involving a girl under 18 for an alleged incident in 2001. Freeman said Kelly is charged in an incident involving a girl he met at a concert. The girl sought an autograph from Kelly, and he gave her the autograph and a phone number, Freeman said. When the girl called the number she was invited to Kelly's hotel and offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance, the prosecutor alleged. He says Kelly took his clothes off and they danced together. Kelly is already facing multiple federal and state sex-crime charges in three separate indictments in the Eastern District of New York, in the Northern District of Illinois and in Cook County in Illinois. “It is despicable that Mr. Kelly used his fame in order to prey on underage girls,” Freeman said. “While there are more numerous charges in the Illinois and federal cases, we wanted to make sure that our victim here in Minneapolis also receives a measure of justice. We fully expect that at some future date, Mr. Kelly will have to account for his actions in Hennepin County.” Freeman says his office investigated after getting a tip from a Chicago tip line. "We felt we had more than enough to charge based on her testimony and corroboration from her brother," Freeman told reporters. "I don't like buying sex from minors, and I don't think most other people do either." According to the criminal complaint, the woman contacted police in January (when the anti-Kelly film series, "Surviving R. Kelly," aired on Lifetime) to report an incident that occurred the day of Kelly’s concert on July 11, 2001. She was 17 at the time. Freeman said the three-year statute of limitations for such cases in Minnesota only applied if Kelly remained in the state, which he did not. Kelly's lead defense attorney, Steve Greenberg, tweeted: "Give me a break. This is beyond absurd."

Re: New charges @RKelly give me a break. This is beyond absurd

— Steve Greenberg (@SGcrimlaw) August 5, 2019

Gloria Allred, the crusading attorney who represents multiple Kelly accusers, said she represents this newest accuser of Kelly, whom she did not identify. But she sought to clarify that her client is not a prostitute despite the language of the charges against Kelly. "I would like to emphasize that my client is not a prostitute. She is instead a child victim of Mr. Kelly," Allred said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY. "My understanding from law enforcement in that state is that the only available statute for which Mr. Kelly can be charged is the prostitution statute." She urged Minnesota to change its laws to "more properly reflect crimes" against children. "In its present form, some victims may be fearful of coming forward because they don’t want to be classified as prostitutes when nothing can be further from the truth," Allred's statement said. At least one other accusation in a different state, Michigan, also has been under investigation: In March, the Detroit Police Department acknowledged it was investigating allegations that Kelly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2001 in Detroit. Police Chief James Craig issued a statement then saying Detroit police got a tip about the alleged crime from Chicago police. Allred said she also represents that accuser, now an adult. She told USA TODAY that her client had been interviewed by police and was willing to testify about her allegations, but no charges have been filed in Michigan.