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Naija Youth Say Enough is Enough

Big things poppin' in Nigeria yesterday.  With over 2000 strong, the peaceful protesters of the Enough is Enough movement marched to the National Assembly in Abuja to have their voices heard and presence felt.  In addition to the fantastic efforts the group put in to have their demands heard on the state of Nigerian leadership, fuel security, the sufferings in Jos and electricity infrastructure, live feeds, tweets and facebook chatter allowed for people to tune in, voice their opinions and participate from all over the world.  It was absolutely amazing. As Chude Jideonwo, the event's organizer stated at the rally, "Let history record that this was the day Nigerian youth came together to take charge of their country."  Not only did the people present at the four hour rally etch themselves into the pages of history, but those of us who aren't in the country, were able to listen in real time on the live feed, get the movement trending on the global phenom, Twitter (#EnoughIsEnough) and support the movement with Facebook statuses and well wishes. You can read the letter the group planned to present to the National Assembly here. Check out the AP's coverage below:

The protesters, under the umbrella of "Enough is enough", a coalition of prominent youth leaders, young people, students and notable artistes, carried placards and chanted slogans in the federal capital Abuja. In a protest letter which they planned to deliver to the leadership of the National Assembly, the demonstrators demanded that Yar'Adua either resume work or resign or be removed from office if he was incapacitated. They also called for "an urgent overhaul of the security and intelligence apparatus of the country" in view of this year's killings in Jos which claimed hundreds of lives. The protesters also called for "a realistic and practical plan to solve perennial power problem" in Africa's most populous nation that generates about 3,000 megawatts for a population of 150 million. They further urged the authorities to implement the recommendations of a government-backed committee on electoral reforms. The government has forwarded the report of the committee to the parliament for its approval.

CNN also picked up the rally and spoke more in depth with Jideonwo - check out that here. GidiNoize also has great coverage, complete with Enough is Enough video clips and more pictures from yesterdays protest. Click here for that. Really good stuff.  There's much to be done in Naij and given that the majority of Nigerians (70%!) is under 35, hopefully continued movements like this will for real, positive and sustainable change. ***** What do you think? Voice your opinion about the protest and the current state of Nigeria in the comments below!