Nigerians in Canada will Saturday join in solidarity with their nationals already on the streets of Nigeria in the EndSARS protests.
According to the Xphrame media, the protest will be holding in various cities in different provinces. Already, the EndSARS protests are scheduled for Toronto at Dundas Square by 11a.m. Other locations which will hold their protests simultaneously include Ottawa, Saskatchewan, Halifax, Newfoundland, Calgary and Winnipeg.
In the 2016 Canadian national census, 51,800 people identified themselves as Nigerians, with over half living in Ontario.
Records show that many more Nigerians in Canada identify themselves by their tribe instead of their country, with 9,600 as Yoruba, 5,600 as Igbo and 1,900 as Edo. The first set of Nigerians began migrating to Canada during the 1967–1970 Biafran war.
According to Xphrame media, “as the youths protest in Nigeria against the brutality of the special anti-crime unit of the Nigerian Police force known as SARS, Nigerians in Canada has planned to embark on a Canada wide protest to add their voices in diaspora to the agitations of the Nigerian youths. The situation in Nigeria is getting out of hand and the youths have decided to rise against the armed men who are supposed to protect them but molesting and oppressing them.
“The organizers of the rally started out via a WhatsApp group sending out a clarion call to all interested participants and the response was overwhelming, within 48 hours of the idea they had to move to telegram platform to accommodate the interested selfless members who yielded to the clarion call.”
As part of the mobilization for the protests, popular media houses in Canada like Nigerian Canadian Newspaper, GBKM FM, Yatiny Communications, Worship media, JHS studios, MOA news, Diamond vision entertainment network, Starboard Entertainment and Xphrame media have thrown their support towards ensuring maximum publicity.
Apart from physical appearances at the protests, Nigerians who reside in Canada are joining the conversation through https://t.me/joinchat/HgvXrBkKyqRq_FZ2VMLJxg and the Telegram platform.
One of the forerunners of the protest, Dr. Chidi a renowned activist and a Revolution Now frontier, described the move as necessity, saying he is happy that Nigerian youths are now rising to the true call of their purpose.
He said” “We feel your pains despite we are in Canada. But be rest assured that we will give you all supports needed.
Ebbie one of the organizers, described the protest as just the beginning of more agitations, most importantly for good quality governance.
President of the Nigerian-Canadian Association, Lady Kemi Amusan, said it was “a right step at the right time,” vowing to mobilize more people to join the movement and ensure a peaceful and successful protest was held.
Also, an advocate for cultural integration and event consultant and CEO of Iyameto Productions, Ms. Funmi Olumade, described the solidarity protest as a sacrifice for our children and the future of the nation.
