As protests continue following Nigerian Police’s attempt to replace the disbanded SARS with SWAT, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) held a meeting in an attempt to bring calm to the country and relax the ongoing tension.

In a meeting held by the NGF on Wednesday, graced by the embattled Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, the Forum came up with suggestions that they believe could stem the tide of demonstrations. The communiqué issued by the governors, among other things, criticized IGP’s attempt to set up SWAT soon after SARS was disbanded.

The Governors agreed that the 36 States and FCT will set up a panel for compensation for victims of SARS brutality and urged the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Council to immediately review the Remuneration and Emoluments of police officers.

The communiqué as signed by the Chairman of the NGF, Kayode Fayemi reads as follows:

We, members of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), at our meeting held today, 14th October 2020, deliberated on a number of issues affecting the country particularly the nationwide protests, riots and demonstrations against the activities of officials of the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and the Nigerian Police.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.M Adamu, NPM, mni briefed the Forum on protests against SARS which technically started since 2017. This would be the first time that the Government is disbanding the unit. Following its dissolution, a new, strictly intelligence driven Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, will be constituted, to carry out tactical operations across the 36 States of the Federation and FCT.

The IGP informed the Forum that after a psychological and medical evaluation, SWAT Officers will be trained and posted to all State Commands – about 50 per State, where they will operate only on intelligence-driven operation. They will not take part in routine operations but will operate specifically on intelligence after which they will return to their Commands.

The IGP assured Governors that he will leverage the provisions of the new Police Act 2020 to carry out extensive reforms.

In response, the Forum acknowledged the concerns of many Nigerians especially youths that have been affected by the excess of some officials of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and the Nigerian Police. This notwithstanding, Forum members noted the efforts of officials of FSARS in their States, as they have greatly assisted in containing the increasing spate of kidnapping, armed robbery, cattle rustling, and other high end crimes particularly in the Northern States, where containing these criminal activities would have otherwise been very challenging. Members therefore expressed concern about the sweeping decision to scrap FSARS even while acknowledging the need to address its excesses.

After deliberation and extensive discussions, members resolved as follows:

Governors were unanimous in their support for the IGP and endorsed his plan to carry out far-reaching reforms geared towards greater effectiveness, accountability and transparency: Members called for increased regularity in the meetings of the Nigeria Police Council in order for it to effectively carry out its regulatory and supervisory roles as contained in the Nigerian Constitution.

On the IGP’s plan to create SWAT, Governors stated that even though the effort might be necessary and in good faith, they argued that the timing is inauspicious as the mood of the nation negates it and may understandably be misinterpreted as a surreptitious move to dress FSARS in another garb;

Governors agreed that there was need for greater consultation with the public before any decision is taken; Governor advised the IGP to immediately convene a meeting of all stakeholders and agree on a format of engagement with all State officials in order to address concerns; and that State leadership should meet simultaneously nationwide, to address matters arising;

Governors emphasized that reforms must include the training and retraining of operatives on the rules of engagement with the general public; policing in Nigeria must ensure freedom for all Nigerians to carry out their lawful and legitimate businesses anywhere in the country without fear of harassment, intimidation or molestation;

Governors advised that throughout the reform process, the room for consultation may include sessions and direct feedback from the public, stressing that there is no single solution that applies to all the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal capital Territory;

Governors were unequivocal that all police officers who participated in the abuse or actions that might have led to injury or the death of innocent citizens must be fished out and brought to book while other Nigerians who have been adversely affected by police brutality or other actions that were injurious to them or their loved ones, should be compensated;

Each State is to set up a panel for compensation to all victims and see to it that the necessary compensation is made to those who deserve them. This must be systematically done to ensure that nobody deserves to be compensated, is left out;

The Forum directed its Secretariat to work with the police authority to develop a framework for setting up a panel of enquiry across all States to determine claims and compensation; Governors are aware that some States have already started engaging protesters and urged all States that have not commenced same to invite all stakeholder in the matter to resolve these issues;

Members also recommended that the IGP, the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Council should immediately review the Remuneration and Emoluments of police officers and explore ways to fund this in order to incentivize and motivate police officers who have pledged themselves in service of the country;

Governors enjoin the IGP to be ready to forge stronger partnerships with State governments and the civil society to improve civil relations between the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Public;

Members also agreed that the concerns of the public went beyond a need a need for Police/FSARS reforms and included a demand for better governance: they noted the need to engage, consult the public and take decisions that address the underpinning issues leading to the protests; members noted that some States had already started the process of engaging protesters and urged all States to engage all stakeholders for a collectively agreed resolution;

Finally, Members praised Mr. President who has acknowledged that the protests and demonstrations reflect genuine concerns of many Nigerians and urged for a speedy implementation of all the agreed points.

Saturday 10th October, 2020, was this year’s World Mental Health Day. But most of us in Nigeria didn’t know about it because the #ENDSARS protest has been overshadowing a lot of important news and information for some time now. Hence, some lectures and talks given by psychologists that we would have enjoyed on that day got swallowed up in the turbulence. It would have been good if we had participated in the mental health awareness campaign because a lot of people, including Nigerians, are passing through a lot right now. From what I’ve learnt, the number of traumatised and depressed persons is on the increase and the worst thing is that many of them don’t even know they have those problems.

Well, I was fortunate to have a one-on-one chat with a friend, who is an advocate of mental health. He is not a psychologist but he has experienced depression and hence believes everyone should know his status. While interacting with him, he pointed out that the major cause of suicide these days is depression. He said that it is possible that people have been depressed in Nigeria during the time of great grandfathers but because of the communal life they lived then, it was easy to manage depression. But right now that people “mind their business” and don’t bother checking on others, depression is becoming more and more devastating. Hence, there is a need to revisit our past and bring back some of our good traditions.

I have always known that African culture and tradition encourage communal life. I have known Africans to be their brothers’ keepers. I have known that in Africa, “Igwebike” is the watchword. But all these are changing. People are dropping the cultures that gave us life and are picking up alien ones. Some people called it “wokeness”. Others called it “pursuit of happiness”. But I see it as the road to destruction.

One of these ills that are eating deep into our system is the “cut-them-off” ideology. You usually see this among people that believe they have started making headway in life. Hence, when they feel that someone that is lower than them is opposing or disturbing them, they “cut off” the person. Note that they are ready to even “cut off” their mothers if it comes to that. This ideology discourages tolerance among people. But without that virtue, a lot of people will live in isolation.

The second problem that needs to be mentioned here is the “think-of-yourself-only” attitude. I know it is advisable to think of your interest before that of anybody else, but I also know that if everyone does that, a lot of us will not find helpers. I am not saying that people should be selfless to the point losing themselves, but if all of us start thinking only of what will benefit us without thinking of its effect on others, I believe a lot of things will go wrong. So as we pursue happiness, and place ourselves first, let us also think of others. Some people made sacrifices for us to be where we are today; we should also be ready to make sacrifices in return.

The last thing that is worth mentioning here is the “you-don’t-owe-anybody-anything” mentality. This attitude, unknown to many, encourages ingratitude; a vice that easily pulls people down. I was actually appalled when I saw a number of young Nigerian graduates, who just started earning their income, saying they don’t owe their parents anything. Some went as far as saying that their parents only did their duties by sending them to school. I don’t know if these people were trying to emulate Western culture but I think they need to find out more about college loans before they tell their parents anything that will break their hearts.

I know people do certain things in the name of civilisation but I don’t think they really know the impact those practices will have in their lives and in that of those around them. People are losing it everyday because there is nobody to notice changes in their moods. As we can see, the cases of suicide are on the increase in this country and it owes a lot to the adoption of alien cultures. No one is trying to discourage you from being civilised but if what you are practising doesn’t advocate togetherness, gratitude and tolerance, trust me, it is destructive.

As state economies open, allowing more short-distance travels, Getaround has a plan to catch up with the demand. The Silicon Valley car rental startup announced it has raised $140 million in a Series E deal, to bring its total venture funding to $600 million.

The funding was led by PeopleFund, followed by new investors including Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus’ Reinvent Capital, AmRest founder Henry McGovern, pennant Investors and VectolQ partners Steve Girsky, Mary Chan and Jualia Steyn also deploying capital. Old investors backing the deal are SoftBank Vision Fund, Menlo Ventures etc.

Getaround is a car rental company that allows customers to instantly rent cars through its app. The startup is available in more than 100 cities and is rapidly expanding.

The new fund is a sign of rebound after the company was hardly hit by COVID-19 pandemic, which forced it to downsize and lay off 150 employees.

But while the pandemic which hampered other rental businesses was mainly to blame, Getaround CEO Sam Zaid said the company’s troubles were compounded by struggles within SoftBank, which did a $300 million Series D round in the company in mid-2018.

Zaid told TechCrunch that although SoftBank was having its own troubles, the Japanese conglomerate has been quite helpful.

“SoftBank has been an extremely supportive partner to Getaround at every critical stage of our journey this year including in January and through COVID,” he said.

A shift in the story came following the lifting of lockdowns that allows people to embark on inter-state trips. Many chose car rentals over flights for fear of contracting the virus. Getaround saw an opportunity to turn around its business as demand for car rentals grew.

The company’s services are offered based on contactless access to passenger cars, an appealing strategy that drew many commuters to the company. There was a rapid increase in demand for Getaround cars as local joints open and people looking for a way out of the lockdowns’ boredom jump on it.

Zaid said that by July 1, Getaround rehired all of its furloughed workers. He said Getaround has witnessed worldwide revenue more than double from its pre-COVID baseline, and gross margins continue to improve.

The company explained that the fund raised in the summer will be used to help the business invest in car technology, bring on new partners and reach global profitability.

Getaround now has more than six million customers worldwide and hopes to add to the numbers as coronavirus continues to spike in Europe.

The company also announced four new executives following the new deal. There are: Dan Kim, head of North American business. He formerly was the head of Airbnb plus and head of global sales and delivery at Tesla; Laura Onopchenko, CFO. She is the former CFO of NerdWallet. Vice president of people and culture, Tia Gordon who worked as the director of people at Google; and vice president of customer experience, Ruth Yankoupe, who held the same position at OYO.

Getaround’s revamp came surprising to many, given that, at the same period the company was working its way out of the strains of COVID-19, Hertz, a giant in the car rental business was declaring bankruptcy.

On May 22, Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection, following the combination of nearly $19 billion of debt and some 700,000 idle rental cars brought by the pandemic that forced its business to shut down.

Hertz’ ordeal was a spotlight on the woes of the travel industry in the wake of the pandemic. Airline companies were not spared as many of them took the same route to declare bankruptcy even after governments’ bailouts. Ridesharing companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are still struggling to record revenues even after the lockdowns were lifted, because many riders are still scared of making person-to-person contact with drivers.

With its rental strategy void of person-to-person contact, Getaround fixed the fear friction and grew an alarming customer-base that attracted more investors amidst the health chaos.