And unless unemployment and poverty are quickly and effectively checked, an unrestrained mass uprising might erupt with unpredictable consequences for the fragile union. Beginning in Lagos, the epicentre of the #EndSARS peaceful protests, mobs of hooligans, hired thugs and petty criminals overran many states. After years of pent-up anger, leadership failure at a critical time dropped lit matches on the fires of stricken poverty and acute unemployment among youths. Today, 105.09 million people, 51 per cent of the population, are living in “extreme poverty” according to the World Poverty Clock. Some 13.9 million youths, almost three million of them university or polytechnic graduates, are without jobs.

Source: Punch October 27, 2020 23:37 UTC