By Oluwole Leigh
This is a catalogue of stories about various demonstrations and Protests that I witnessed and some key factors that contributed to their successes and failures.
While I was in my 3rd year in University, I stumbled on a protest (Aluta) .
It was examination time but the electricity supply had been dismal. Students could not cook or read at night. A couple of student union executives got together and decided to launch a protest. I happened to be walking past and I decided to join in an observatory capacity. The Aluta bus took off and was driven at break neck speed in the direction of the maintenance department. The Maintenance department was responsible for the distribution of electricity within the university campus. As the Bus containing the student protesters arrived in front of the maintenance department and flashed its headlamps, a couple of disappearing legs were sighted. The few workers present in the maintenance facility vanished into thin Air. The activists got down and engaged in some deliberations. After the deliberations, it was decided that the Aluta Bus would move to the vice chancellor’s residence. The same process played out when the bus got to the vice chancellor’s lodge as the gateman vanished after answering the bell.
Somewhere along the line, I realized that the activists in the bus all had different reasons for joining the protest. One of them let everyone know that he was not prepared for the next day’s examination and all examination activities had to be halted for this reason. Another one had not gone on a protest in a while and wanted to relive the experience. Others were there because they saw others were there. At almost 12 midnight, the Aluta Express moved to the university gate with the plan of locking the gate and preventing access to the university. The activists got to the gate, chased away the security men and proceeded to shut the gate. Unfortunately, the security men had made away with the padlocks. The activists came together and realized that they urgently needed padlocks for the Gates. Each padlock cost about N100 at the time. After a lot of argument between the activists, it became clear that goal of raising money for the padlocks was unachievable. The gates were later opened while ALUTA Express returned all its passengers to the starting point. Over four hours of Aluta activity had been rendered ineffective because they couldn’t come up with N100
On January 1, 2012 , there was a hike in Fuel prices as a result of subsidy removal by the Nigerian President. Anger , discontent and Civil disorder resulted from this decision. On January 3, a coalition of Civil Society Groups headed by the Joint Action Forum called for a Protest March. Protesters gathered at the NLC House in Yaba in the early hours of the morning. The arrival of activists such as Femi Falana, Dipo Fasina, Femi Aborisade greatly improved the general morale. The protest kicked off around 9 am and snaked gradually out of Yaba to Ojuelegba. The first port of call for the protesters was the nearby filling station which was shut down because it sold fuel at higher prices. From Ojuelegba, the protesters made their way across Ikorodu road heading in the direction of Maryland. The numbers increased as many folks who were not there at the beginning joined along the way. Some of the older protesters made their way at the back of Motor bikes (popularly called Okada) while the younger ones stayed on foot. On getting to Maryland, an argument broke out. Some of the activists felt that the Protest should head in the direction of the Lagos Government Office. Others were of the opinion that many protests had ended up at the Governor’s office without any result.
They felt that going to the Governor’s office would taint the cause and make it look like they were aligned with the ruling party in Lagos. The fact that a sizeable police presence had built up on top of the Maryland Bridge did not help matters. Eventually, it was decided that the protesters should head to Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota to conclude the protest. This decision was influenced by the presence of some activists who had concluded a similar protest at that location a week before. The Protesters took off and got to Gani Fawehinmi Park after a while. Everyone congregated around Gani Fawehinmi’s statue to hear the final address by the activists. Unfortunately, the activists only had a small megaphone with which they attempted to speak. They tried their best to rouse people’s spirits but it was impossible. The large crowd could not hear them and gradually faded away. A whole day of Aluta activity fizzled away at the end point because of Poor Sound
On January 9, 2012, Protesters gathered at Gani Fawehinmi Park to kick off a major demonstration against the National Fuel Price Hike. The Government had not budged in spite of the Ultimatum given to it by the Coalition of Nigerian Labour Congress and other Civil Society Activists. Protesters converged at various points within the Lagos metropolis for demonstrations. Gani Fawehinmi Park became the focal point for the demonstrations. There was a lot of tension, excitement and suspense in the air as young and old people converged at Ojota. This Protest was unique as it as the participants cut across various social classes. A lot of folks who had probably turned their noses down at previous protests showed up for this one. The Save Nigeria Group provided a sound system which could comfortably be used for a large concert. Clear Sound had previously not been associated with protests in Nigeria. voices and music could be heard miles away from the protest venue. As the days went on, the protest morphed into a carnival of some sorts. The impact of clear sound and music could be seen in what some regard as the biggest Nigerian protest in recent history.
Looking at the 3 cases shown above, the impact of small events or actions on the larger event can be clearly seen. Four hours of protest in a university fizzled away because of the lack of N100. The Presence of policemen at Maryland junction prevented the January 3 protesters from ending up at the Lagos Governor’s house. The “ January 3 Protest” ended silently because of poor sound. Great sound contributed to the success of the week long protest which kicked off on January 9.
