Music stars, Folarin Falana (Falz), Seun Kuti and comedian, Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni) have rejected the invitation of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to a peace walk for the healing of the state.
The two men in their separate reactions rejected the invitation of the governor. Mr. Marcaroni said genuine peacemaking should begin by first implementing the recommendations of the panel, while Falz on his part, described the walk of peace as a joke and a very disrespectful one at that. However, Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalink said Sanwo-Olu has shown leadership with his mature response to the current controversy.
The governor had on Tuesday invited some known faces of the #EndSARS protest in the state in October 2020 to a peace walk slated for December. Those the governor invited are Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni), Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalink), Adedotun (Just Detoun), Seun Kuti, Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu and Commander of Rapid Response Squad (RRS), CSP Yinka Egbeyemi and others. Reacting, Mr. Macaroni said: “I humbly decline the invitation of Mr. Governor. The government themselves set up a panel. The panel has made recommendations. I believe that genuine peacemaking will begin by first implementing the recommendations of the panel. Then we can begin to trust the government. “Mr. Governor has said in his speech that to be a centre of excellence, we have to be a center of truth. Before there can be healing, the government has to be sincere. There must be acceptance of wrongdoings and willingness to correct them.
“The last walk wey I do, na so dem bundle me, strip me naked, brutalize and dehumanize me. I no carry gun, I no carry weapon. As dem dey beat me, dem dey ask why I dey disturb Mr. Governor. Now dem say make I come do walk. For another round of beating? “Abeg o. If I wan lose weight, I go go gym. Same peaceful walk wey Nigerian Youths do wey dem kill them? Some are still in prison.. Some have gone into hiding.
Their lives no longer theirs all because we decided to walk against police brutality.” Falz said: “This suggestion of a walk of peace sounds like a joke and a very disrespectful one at that. People were murdered in cold blood and absolutely no iota of justice has been served more than a year after. How can there be peace without justice? “In this same speech, you said to be a smart city, we first must be just one.
Remember the young Nigerians that had their lives snatched away by weapons wielded by our own Armed Forces? You want to sweep that under the carpet? Is that how to establish a just city? #ENDSARS “Young Nigerians, till today are still being constantly harassed and extorted by police officers!! You were awfully quiet about that. Or are you not aware? #ENDSARS.” Also, son of the Afrobeat legend, Fela, Seun AnikulapoKuti, has rejected the invite by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to a peace walk for “the healing of Lagos” in December. The activist and singer insisted that the governor must ensure justice is served for victims of police brutality before a peace walk. “I want peace after justice,” he said on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme. “I don’t need to walk next to the governor before there is peace in Lagos; there had been peace in Lagos before many years and nobody had to walk anywhere for it.
“If there is justice, then we can discuss peace. In fact, there will be no need to walk for peace because justice itself is the walk of peace. The governor should walk the walk he is talking about by giving us justice.” Segalink, in his reaction, said: “Mr. Governor @ jidesanwoolu has shown leadership with this matured response and we hope the WhitePaper will mirror his sentiment. We all want closure, Justice and healing for our society. The experience of 20th October 2020 must never be repeated. #EndImpunity.” New National Star reports that Gov. Sanwo-Olu Tuesday, addressed residents of the state on the #EndSARS protest that culminated in the controversial killing of Nigerians at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020. In the address, the governor appealed for calm and trust in the state government to do the needful by implementing recommendations of the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report, saying the state government will release a white paper on the panel report later today (yesterday).
He said: “It is with great sense of responsibility that I address you today on the reactions that have trailed the release of the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report submitted to me two weeks ago, and how it has played out in public discourse since then. “I will start by saying that we, as an administration, are determined that the next steps that will be taken in this process of coming to terms with the events of October 2020, must bring closure to a painful episode in the history of our state with the release of the White Paper later today.
“You will recall that the judicial panel of inquiry was originally inaugurated to investigate allegations of police brutality committed by the disbanded SARS in Lagos State. “In the aftermath of what happened on October 20, 2020, I decided to expand the mandate of the Panel to include investigating what really happened at the Lekki Tollgate that night. “As a matter of good faith and a sincere commitment to uncovering the truth, we constituted a panel of individuals that we believed were independent, credible, and representative of the various stakeholder communities interested in the movement against police brutality. “Apart from the chairman of the panel being a respected retired jurist, various stakeholders including the youths, #EndSARS protesters, the police and civil society groups were represented on the panel. “I am sure no member of the panel can claim that the state government made any attempt to influence them in any way throughout the duration of its sitting.”