#EndSARS: Government, private sector yet to recover, says ex-LCCI DG

Muda Yusuf, former director-general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says many investors and state governments are yet to recover from the destruction of facilities and businesses after the #EndSARS protest.

Yusuf spoke during an interview with NAN on Sunday ahead of the first anniversary of the protest.

The #EndSARS protest against police brutality and human rights violations was held across the country in October 2020.

Yusuf said the economic implication of the protest was enormous due to the destruction of public and private property after it was hijacked by hoodlums.

“There was a lot of destruction of public and private property and these cost a lot of money. We are talking of hundreds of millions of naira,” Yusuf said.

“As I speak to you, many of the private sector investors that were affected are yet to recover from the shock and the setback caused by the destruction.

“There was also a lot of public property that were destroyed which also cost billions of naira.

“Many of the governments affected have not been able to fix those properties because they don’t have the finance. So from the destruction point of view, I think a lot was lost.”

Yusuf said during the #EndSARS protests, the economy was brought to a standstill.

“Practically nothing was happening and that was a huge loss to the economy and all its layers,” he said.

“Then there was also the impact on the security apparatus in the country because no country can exist without effective security.”

He noted that the way forward was for government at all levels to strengthen engagements with citizens.

“These were complaints that had been on for a number of years and because these complaints were not addressed, it eventually led to an implosion,” he added.

“When people have grievances and those grievances are not addressed promptly, it leads to an accumulation of anger, and any little trigger can cause chaos.

“So the government needs better engagement with the citizens so that things will not get to the level that it will degenerate to violence and protests.”