By Abdulrazaq HamzatÂ
After the #endbadgovernance protest ended as destructive adventure, just like the #endsars disaster, the fearless in October is here again.
In recent times, the place of protest in political change has shifted, especially after incidents like the EndSARS movement, which began as a powerful call for an end to police brutality, but tragically ended in chaos and destruction.
This has fostered a sense of disillusionment around the power of protest as a tool for meaningful political change.
Protests, historically is a powerful tool for driving significant political and social changes.
However, misuse and overuse of protest over meaningless issues has indeed made it lose it potency, other than for destruction.
After being deployed for frivolous causes, impact of protest has been diluted and this has undermined its capacity to cause any major positive impact.
The frequency of protest over minor issues has desensitize the public and authorities, making it harder for genuine grievances to be addressed effectively.
In some cases, the commercialization or politicization of protest, where movements are co-opted for personal gain or political manipulation, further degrade its value.
This shift in the nature of protest makes it harder to channel them as tools for meaningful political change.
In Nigeria today, protest as a tool for change has been bastardized and hijacked by individuals and groups that only seek to showcase themselves as career activists or those seeking to become overnight influencers to generate content for social media presence. There are also those who use it to retain their brand commercial viability.
We also have politicians seeking to shield themselves from public accountability deploy protest as a tool for personal security. Regional and tribal champions also use it to advance their selfish interest under the guise of tribal solidarity. This is apart from sponsored protest by all kinds of individuals, including those associated with the government.
All of these has made protest lose it potency as a tool for genuine political change and social development.
In the current landscape, protests have often been co-opted by those with self-serving motives, whether as a means to build personal brands, gain social media traction, or advance tribal and political agendas. The commercialization and manipulation of protest for non-substantive reasons dilute their impact and divert attention from pressing issues that demand genuine action.
This misuse has resulted in public fatigue, where the frequency and trivial nature of many protests desensitize the public and the authorities.
Consequently, when significant issues arise, it becomes harder to galvanize collective action or attract the necessary support to effect real change.
Instead, protests have often ended in destruction, leaving communities worse off and without achieving any meaningful reform.
For protest to regain their effectiveness as instruments of political change, they must return to their roots—organizing around substantial, unifying causes, free from politicization or self-interest.
The fearless in October symbolizes an opportunity for reflection, a call to restore the dignity of protest by focusing on strategic and impactful movements, ensuring they remain a force for positive transformation rather than an avenue for discord or self-promotion.
