Issue #7
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Today we’ll look at
A year after the End Sars protest
Producing movies in space
Let's get started!
ENDSARS PROTEST, A YEAR SO FAR
On October 8, 2020, young Nigerians across eleven recorded states took to the streets in their numbers in protest against police brutality after a series of videos went viral on the internet, showing officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigerian Police Force exercising brute force to harass victims in an unjustified manner. The EndSars Movement lasted for two weeks, with protesters calling for the disbandment of SARS.
What Happened Next?
On October 15th, SARS was officially disbanded for the fifth time within a five year period. The protest still continued with Nigerians demanding for a reform of the Nigerian Police Force and expanding to good and accountable governance.
Amnesty International confirmed that on October 20th, the Nigerian Army opened fire on peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, killing at least 12 persons, bringing the protest to a stop.
Accounts of protest leaders were also frozen, and media agencies that covered videos of shootings sanctioned. The Nigerian Authorities however denied the attacks, some half truth stories and inconsistent reports.
So Far So Bad
Since the protest, citizens have continued to be harassed and assaulted by the Nigerian Police. Victims are profiled and targeted based on appearance, carrying gadgets, etcetera.
Activist Chioma Agwuegbo says that "Right after the protests security forces were a little careful, but everybody has since returned to their bad behaviour". She further asked about what has happened to the panel of inquiry set up across the country, and to the security forces that perpetrated these acts.
So Did The Protest Fail?
With the ban of cryptocurrency trading and the use of twitter in Nigeria, the FG imposing stringent rules on free speech and a plummeting economy, it is easy to conclude that the purpose of the protest was defeated. Many people are opting to leave the country by the day. The protest did however show young Nigerians the power of speaking up and holding the country’s leaders accountable. The #sorosoke movement showing Nigerians that a credible organised system is possible.
The impact of the protest is also a likely indication that the 2023 elections would not be "business as usual" with a people in solidarity demanding better for themselves and generation.
The Russian film industry is a step closer to releasing the first movie in space
The Russian actor, Yulia Peresild and a film director, Klim Shipenko have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit.
The duo landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan’s steppe early on Sunday, according to footage broadcast live by the Russian space agency and reported by The Guardian.
They were ferried back to the earth by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who had been on the space station for the past six months.
The filmmakers had blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month, travelling to the ISS with veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to film scenes for The Challenge.
Russians beating the US to be the first to shoot in space
If the project continues at its current pace the Russian crew will beat a Hollywood project announced last year by Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise together with Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The Movie Plot
The movie’s plot, which has been mostly kept under wraps along with its budget, centres around a surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.
Shkaplerov, 49, along with the two Russian cosmonauts who were already aboard the ISS, is said to have cameo roles in the film.
The mission will add to a long list of firsts for Russia’s space industry:
The Soviets launched the first satellite Sputnik, and sent into orbit the first animal, a dog named Laika, the first man, Yuri Gagarin, and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova.
Can movie enthusiasts in Nigeria look forward to this sort of ambitious project in Nigeria?
WORTH READING 📚
Justice Sonia Sotomajor says female justices are more interrupted than their male counterparts. Omma Seddiq on Business Insider.
Why happy people cheat A good marriage is no guarantee against infidelity. By Esther Perel
WORTH WATCHING 🎥
Why intelligent people do stupid things. On Thoughty2.
Time is but a stubborn illusion. On National Geographic.
This newsletter was put together while listening to Crazy Tins by Tems.
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