Nigerian comedian and activist Debo Adedayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, has reflected on the #EndSARS protests six years later, lamenting that insecurity, hunger, poverty, inadequate healthcare, and corruption remain major challenges facing the country.
The entertainer shared a video of himself participating in the October 2020 protests alongside a message expressing disappointment over what he described as the country’s continued struggles and growing divisions.
In his post on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Mr Macaroni said Nigerians were still grappling with several challenges that had fuelled calls for better governance, adding that the country appeared more divided at a time when unity was needed.
“6 Years Later! We are still dealing with Insecurity, hunger, poverty, lack of proper health care and the highest level of corruption and impunity,” he wrote.
“The saddest part is that we are even more divided as a people at a time when we should be most united,” he added.
The actor’s reflection comes six years after young Nigerians took to the streets in cities across the country to protest against police brutality and demand the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Mr Macaroni calls for unity, greater citizen awareness
Beyond highlighting the challenges facing the country, Mr Macaroni expressed hope that Nigerians would recognise their collective power as citizens and resist allowing the interests of a few individuals to undermine the wider population.
“I hope one day we truly realize the power that we have as citizens and stop allowing a few selfish individuals destroy the success and prosperity of the majority of us,” he wrote.
He ended the post with peace and love symbols, adding, “Till then, ✌🏾 and 🤍.”
The message echoed the demands for accountability and better governance that formed part of the wider #EndSARS movement in 2020.
Six years after the #EndSARS protests
The #EndSARS protests gained momentum in October 2020 following renewed public anger over allegations of police brutality, particularly abuses attributed to SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
Young Nigerians organised demonstrations across the country, demanding an end to police brutality, justice for victims, and reforms to policing.
On October 20, 2020, security forces opened fire on protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos. The incident became one of the most significant and controversial moments of the protests.
Human Rights Watch subsequently called for accountability over abuses against protesters, while a Lagos State judicial panel of inquiry found that security forces had shot, injured, and killed unarmed protesters at the toll gate. The question of accountability for abuses during the protests has remained a major part of discussions about the movement’s legacy.
Although the government announced the disbandment of SARS in October 2020, the protests also raised broader concerns about police accountability, governance and the protection of citizens’ rights.
Six years on, Mr Macaroni’s post has revisited those demands through a wider reflection on Nigeria’s social, economic and political challenges, renewing attention to the hopes and frustrations that brought protesters to the streets in 2020.
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