“For us to struggle, the forces being so unequal, must appear insane. But if we consider our opponent’s means of strife and our own, it is not our intention to fight that will seem absurd, but that the thing we mean to fight will still exist. Hey have millions of money and millions of obedient soldiers; but we have only one thing, but that is the most powerful thing in the world – Truth” – Leo Tolstoy

Flashes of “People Power” in Nigeria

In Nigeria, there have been flashes of attempts to protest on issues common to all or majority of Nigerians. In recent years, perhaps the only one issue that generates sufficient anger in the minds of Nigerians, irrespective of primordial sentiments and differences, and forces them to take action, in the form of workers strikes (albeit weak, haphazardly organized strikes), is the incessant increases in prices of petroleum products. Aside from this, all other issues of grand corruption by our leaders, electoral corruption among other crimes of our leaders pass and intensify without as much a mention, from the leadership of labor unions, which usually spearheads the “impotent” anti-fuel price increase protests.

In 1986, the SAP protests by Nigerian students, was a prominent flash of potent protest that shook the ruling elite to its marrows. The main reason why the anti SAP protests were very potent was the fact that the issues were purely economic in nature, and cut across all the diversities of Nigeria. From Lagos to Maiduguri, and from Calabar to Sokoto, all tertiary students cast aside petty differences and pursued a united issue. The potency of the SAP protests forced the then military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, to plan and execute a diabolic project that was to weaken campus unionism, which was the bedrock of the (then) powerful National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

One common characteristic of most protests or strike actions in Nigeria is the lack of proper planning and preparedness to properly sustain the struggle. However, another factor that makes the strikes and protests in Nigeria just a “footnote” is the rather violent approach employed by activists. This violent approach easily becomes a weapon employed by the ruling elite to incite hatred for the violent protesters! And they soon lose face and the ability to command any public respect. Therefore, there is a need to change approach and mobilize Nigerians for a more potent means of bringing about change in Nigeria. I am suggesting the nonviolent approach to bring down our government or force them to meet the people’s needs and demands.

The Power of the Nonviolent Approach or “Passive Resistance”[i]

Nonviolent resistance (or nonviolent action) is the practice of achieving socio-political goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political non-cooperation, and other methods, without using violence.

The term passive resistance is a form of non-cooperation that is sometimes used as a synonym for nonviolent resistance. It means resistance by inertia or refusal to comply, as opposed to resistance by active means such as protest or risking arrest.

Nonviolence is a form of resistance developed by  Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, which emphasizes the search for truth and attempts to change the heart as well as the actions of the opponent.

Many movements which promote philosophies of nonviolence or pacifism have pragmatically adopted the methods of nonviolent action as an effective way to achieve social or political change. They employ nonviolent resistance tactics such as: information warfare, picketing, vigils, leafleting, protest art, protest music and poetry, community education and consciousness raising, lobbying, tax resistance, boycotts or sanctions, legal/diplomatic wrestling, sabotage of weapons, underground railroads, principled refusal of awards/honors, and general strikes.

The Challenge of Mobilizing Nonviolent “People Power”

Nonviolent people power, as a weapon used to bring down obnoxious laws/decrees, mighty and wicked regimes and governments has been used successfully in countries like the United States (civil rights movement of the 1960s), the Philippines (the overthrow of dictator Fredinand Marcos), Chile (the fall of Dictator Pinochet), not to forget the grand father and grand other of them all: the Indian struggle for equality and independence, spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi. But this has not come easy, there’s an enormous challenge to taking this path of change.

Let me cite the challenge of one of the prominent nonviolent activist during the black civil rights protests in the Tennessee to illustrate the challenge: “ (Diane) Nash asked other students at Fisk (University) whether they knew of anyone or anything that was fighting segregation. “Be cool”, they said. “You aren’t going to be able to make any changes. You’re just going to get yourself in trouble. Why don’t you just go to class during the week and go to the parties on the weekend?” [ii] Well, Diane Nash persisted and was to become a key actor that integrated Finks University students into the larger civil rights movement. But, the import of this challenge cannot be lost on Nigerians. Friends and family are always quick to tell you how you must just “chop your garri quietly and never look for trouble”.

Nigerians Must Arise and Organize

Most revolutions that succeeded (peaceful or violent) often appeared to the public to be spontaneous. No. No successful revolution was ever “spontaneous”. Most revolutions followed careful plans and sacrifices by leaders, spending long hours, months or years to conscientize and mobilize the people on the issues, to plan what actions would be taken. The media usually concentrated on the actual actions of the struggle, while always neglecting that these revolutions and massive people power only followed equally massive planning activities. The civil rights movement was a whole process of learning by doing, on-going modification in strategies and tactics with an organized leadership that sustained the struggle: “…workshops were often held in churches to learn the nonviolent ideology, of Mohandas Gandhi – that the anguish of people acting to end oppression was a form of truth that might change the minds and hearts of their oppressors.”[iii]

In the Philippines and Chile for instance, the Church also played a big role in educating the people on the power that is inherent in “loving the oppressor” and their agents of repression (police, soldiers and all instruments of violence).

Nonviolent passive resistance by a people requires training and planning, must of it by volunteers. During protests in the Philippines (1986) for instance, the church mobilized volunteers to be at all the polling stations to tally votes, so as to effectively counter the fraudulent votes announced by state broadcasting agencies; of course, the Catholic Church also had its own radio broadcast station (Radio Veritas), through which tallied votes were announced. During many days of the gathering of people in the Luneta Park in Manila, people volunteered their cars to ferry people to the park, people volunteered the provision of free water and snacks; doctors, nurses and paramedics who believed in the struggle were on hand to attend to the physically weak. The same kind of organization characterized the fall of Pinochet in Chile (1998). During the salt match by Mohandas Gandhi, he stopped and rested/slept in villages and towns, and after each stop, the crowd swelled, concerned villagers provided water and food to the mass of people that peacefully marched hundreds of miles.

Indeed, the energy required to sustain a sit-in for even half a day is monstrous. It could only take carefully planned activity and leadership to sustain, and win more crowds as each hour, or day of a peaceful protest passes. So much goes into enlightenment. Activists hold very dearly to dos and don’ts like: do  - show yourself friendly and courteous at all times, report all serious incidents to the leaders, refer information seekers to the leader in polite manner etc; don’t – strike back no curse if abused, laugh out, block entrances or aisles or walkways…etc.

This sort of organization is often missing when Nigerians are protesting, and people are left to behave spontaneously in different directions and ways. Most often, they activity is hijacked by touts and the group is left to battle with “riot” police. If protesters are carefully educated on how to go about and behave in a peaceful march or sit-in, it would be very easy to sieve genuine protesters from touts and criminal usurpers. We must learn and fully prepare not to be caught napping by the state.

Some Uniquely Nigerian Challenges

- The dead students’ movement: today, the students’ movement in Nigeria lacks the unity to provide support to any form of nonviolent action. The world over, youth movements need to fully participate in peaceful resistance activities for success to be achieved. Right within the divided students’ movement, there are some youth and students who keep their distance from the crowd of pro-government students’ leaders whose past time is collecting bribes and serving as political thugs. All that is needed is to fully integrate these few into the nonviolent agenda.

- The labor movement seems to be the most organized platform to rally passive resistance and nonviolent activism in Nigeria today. But they would need to change their casual approach and embark on carefully planned education and enlightenment of its union members as well as the Nigerian public. Actions must be designed to make the desired impact, not just protest for protest’s sake. Is it possible for instance, to get a few committed activists that can sit peacefully, displaying only placards, at the surroundings of the National Assembly, and do this each morning for one week?

- The civil society movement in Nigeria has long abandoned popular struggles, in pursuit of donor funds. But a few activist organizations and leaders must be willing to commit some time and resources into educating citizens on the ideology, practice and tactics of nonviolence resistance.

- Churches, Mosques and other religious leaders in Nigeria have been bought over and have a totally different focus and agenda. The main agenda of religious leaders today is to fraternize with the ruling elite under the guise of “praying” for them. The memory of the prominent Nigerian Overseer who prayed for the petty dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo, after the rigged election of 2003 is still fresh. The same “man of God” was to lead his Church to shortchange Nigeria’s economy by abusing an import duty waiver. Can the church or other religious leaders be relied upon to mobilize their members? Some of the older orthodox churches and their leaders, quite often, do speak truth to power. But we would need more than verbal criticism from our religious leaders. There is no, and there should be no problem in religious leaders asking or leading their members to support and participate in peaceful protest.

- So much poverty and hunger has weakened Nigerians so much that a day-long protest or just mere a stay-at-home could mean staying hungry for a family on that day, for most Nigerians go out daily to earn just enough for the day’s meal. Any shut down of activities in a town will adversely affect majority of families. With a little push, through some enlightenment campaign on the need to act, the poor masses will be able to sustain a peaceful sit-in for a few days.

- Our repressive police force brooks no tolerance at all for civil protest. Once we were watching a live TV coverage of some protesters pushing a police line backwards in Paris, France with a Nigerian police inspector also present: the inspector was furious and charged derisively at the “shame” of the French police to have allowed people to protest for more than one week. My inspector friend then wished that the French government would just contract only one Nigerian Mopol Unit and the protests would end in a few hours! In Nigeria, the police descend heavily on mere, unarmed, peaceful civilian protesters at every opportunity. Within this police however, there are cases when police officers have subtly expressed solidarity or support for activists cause. With the likely defeat of the public order act in the Supreme Court, the environment for peaceful protests will improve.

Still, We Must Act, but Peacefully!

There is no doubt anger in minds of Nigerians, but this anger needs to transform and move a critical mass of people to action. We only need sufficient anger at the oppressors and their oppression, then, the coalition of anger from existing injustice must be turned into energy to collectively act in a very peaceful, nonviolent manner. Over 1,500 years ago, St. Augustine declared faithfully that the search for peace and justice is embedded in human nature: but I dare add that all that which is embedded in human nature needs to be discovered. The anger of the oppressed Nigerians is very visible, but we need leaders that will help to nurture and transform the anger to action, action that will lead us all not to “defeat” the oppressive ruling elite, but show them the truth, and compel them to act according to the truth.

Robot  Villager

# 1 “For us to struggle, the forces being so unequal, must appear insane. But if we consider our opponent’s means of strife and our own, it is not our intention to fight that will seem ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 22.09.2008 08:52