Modupe Odele, one of the young Nigerians at the forefront of the #EndSARS agitation and a coordinator of the Legal Defense team, recently tweeted the following words:

“Seeing many publications describe me as an “activist” makes me feel uncomfortable. It is like this title which you have to take up by force simply because you said “no, this can’t be right”

A country that turns everyone who speaks up into an activist still has a long way to go,” she added.

Leading up to her statement, the Nigerian Immigration had seized Moe’s passport on her way out of the country and has since been keeping her posted in its return. According to certain reports, she and a few other active youths in the protests were placed on a “No-Fly” list. While the government denied the claims, the reason for the seizure of Moe Odele’s passport is yet to be communicated.

Her recent experiences with the Nigerian State must have been what led to her tweet which indicates that she is neither willing nor ready to be labelled an activist.

In a similar vein, the Federal government has been accused of engineering the freezing of some #EndSARS protesters’ accounts. Coupled with the seizure of passports, the government’s action spell a heavily negative reaction to the call for accountability.

Because of this, many young Nigerians are beckoning for a resumption of protests as a result of the government’s highhandedness. Many others are busy trending hashtags on social media and tagging Nigerian politicians to do push them to do the proper thing. Some others are participating in the Judicial Panels in different states even though one of the youth representatives on the Lagos Panel has had her account blocked by the government.   

With the many problems that bedevil Nigeria and politicians’ characteristic slapdash approach to governing, young Nigerians have no choice but to always protest whether online or offline. It is a lifetime of protests against a system that is designed to deny them opportunities. Nigerians are by default, activists.

Everyday here are not options because every day, there are reports that are sure to inspire people to complain and want things to change. Also, a lot of Nigerians are activists and they are not even aware of it. Activism is not just in protests. By educating people alone, you are doing activism. By trending hashtags, you are doing activism, by protesting, you are doing activism, by signing petitions, you are doing activism. By doing community work like the COVID-19 lockdown Community Policing that many Nigerians had to do, you are doing activism. It is only hoped that the day will come when indeed, people’s votes will count and voting would become a legal and sustainable means of voting out a bad government. Young Nigerians have no choice but to be activists, even when it is against their desire. There is too much injustice for anyone who is not benefiting from the bad system to keep quiet.

Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí

“Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí is a lifetime student of Literature. He is also a reader who writes occasionally. For him, words are what makes the intractable world livable. Ayo tweets at @Ayo_eagles. He was a Wawa Book Review Young Literary Critics Fellow and won the 2019 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Book Review.”