After weeks of protests against police brutality and bad governance in Nigeria, it is safe to say the war for the soul of Nigeria has begun.

For Nigerian youths, this is our own Saratoga; a critical victory that has shown the political establishment in Nigeria that beyond the stereotypes used to characterize us; we are resolute, solution-oriented and can organize en masse.

Yes, we lost soldiers in this battle, but the grounds we gained and the blows struck mean that in years to come this will be remembered as a turning point in Nigeria’s history.

This is no time to be deflated or downcast; the humour-laced conversations around the President’s depressing speech and the surprising “discovery” of a camera at the scene of the much-denied “crime” must not make us feel that we have come to the end of the road. Far from it.

This is but the start of a journey that we must remain on to wrestle Nigeria from the tight fists of politicians and rulers who seek to keep this country in the sewers of history.

Already the calls are ringing for youths to become more active in politics; to get their voters’ cards and join political parties. All these are laudable and must be taken with every sense of seriousness.

We must not forget that fateful Tuesday, 20th of October 2020, when young and old who were tired of the status quo stood fearlessly singing the Nigerian National anthem and waving flags in the face of certain death.

Those among them old enough to have witnessed the dark days of military rule must have relived the horror of the military’s repressiveness just seconds before their lives were snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

It is for the sake of they and all others whose lives were taken by the Nigerian State that we must keep the #EndSARS flag flying high. We must stay true on this journey to national rebirth; ensuring the memory of those gone is one that brings a sense of fulfilment.

Our demands did not warrant bullets or violence; we only sought the right to live with dignity and pursue the good in life as citizens.

The right to be respected by those we elected and not be profiled as criminals and deviants because of our lifestyle choices.

For any government with empathy, this was not akin to seeking water from a rock but for an administration that has shown itself as a man with a hammer who sees everything as a nail, this was an affront.

“How dare these lazy youths disrupt our cities with their foolish demands?” they must have muttered in frustration as initial confidence that the protests would wane after a couple of days gave way to trepidation.

Oh, we struck fear in their hearts! The Civil War and June 12 generation were put on the receiving end of how they wrestled democracy from the military.

Now we must stand fast lest we falter; this is not a victory of itself. It is time to begin the critical work of collaborating, building alliances and reaching out to the over 70 percent other youths who might see our calls for an end to police brutality and bad governance as the agitations of a privileged middle class.

We must take care not to alienate them and push them into the ready arms of a political class that has kept them poor, broken and battered. Those who play messiah during elections but abandon them to their fate once political victory is secured.

We must not rest on our oars, buoyed by the global attention on our campaign to end police brutality, but must begin to build bridges to move more Nigerian youths out of the doldrums of political apathy and indecision.

This fight is for all of us and the future we deserve; it is one we must fight with a singular purpose to birth a new Nigeria that will make the next generation proud of our efforts.

Edward Israel-Ayide is a Lagos-based strategic and marketing communications consultant.