One of the unintended denouements of the #EndSars protest that morphed from pockets of violence into a free-for-all brigandage culminating in maniacal destruction of both public and private choice assets is the looting of stored or otherwise hoarded COVID-19 relief materials meant as palliatives for the vulnerable Nigerians.
Whilst the jury is out as to the propriety or otherwise of the protest which started on a peaceful note but turned violent, there seems to be a glimmer of public forbearance for the looting mob.
The seeming public temperance of otherwise criminal infractions is against the backdrop of the fact that Nigeria has not only flattened COVID-19 curve which makes the stockpiles superfluous, but also the timing of the discoveries makes the reason for the stockpile suspicious.
The fact that thousands of COVID-19 relief materials still remain under lock and key months after the lockdown was eased speaks volumes about our welfare system and the lack of empathy across governmental spectrum.
The suspicion that the materials were kept for political patronage is unimpeachable.
The alibi emanating from various state governments and their parastatals on the bureaucratic process of re-bagging and repackaging does not hold water.
Though denying the vulnerable in the society access to the relief materials till this moment is condemnable, this does not seem to justify the looting spree that made an international spectacle of our cherished value system.
So many needy Nigerians were within the range of these looting but were retrained by share integrity and strength of character.
When the chips are down, this strength of character is the defining trait that differentiates the teeming majority of the long-suffering Nigerians from a few hoodlums who unfortunately make perennial international headlines and casts the country in opprobrious nomenclature.
Bukola Ajisola ([email protected])
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