Protest Is Not Enough To Bring About Measurable Reforms – Osinbajo

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Culled from Premium Times

The former Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, said on Thursday that protests must be accompanied by other political actions to achieve measurable reforms.

Prof. Osinbajo spoke at the 6th edition of the Technology, New Media, Citizens and Governance Conference (TNCG).

He spoke on the topic: Technology as a Catalyst for Political Action in Africa

“Political action today must go beyond protests. We must see activities that directly catalyse development as important features of political action. “And I want to emphasise that protests, of course, are crucial. They are important, but we must use our resources also for direct action that have development objectives.

“We can instigate official action in various ways, for example, intervening in important areas of human capital development, such as education or healthcare.”

Social media for mobilisation

Speaking further, Prof. Osinbajo highlighted how technology has influenced political action in Africa, citing the use of social media for #EndSARS protests in Nigeria and the Gen Z uprising in Kenya.

He said social media platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok have been used to organise protests, raise funds, and disseminate information in real-time.

He also cited how the use of the Zeno app in Kenya allowed protesters to avoid police by receiving real-time updates on police movements, and the role of WhatsApp and Facebook in Zambia’s youth movement.

However, he reiterated the potential threats of social media platforms to democracy and individual and collective security, citing the potential to use deepfakes to spread disinformation.

Protest without leadership

Prof. Osinbajo also explained that protest without leadership can be a sign of weakness.

“Advantage of technology and particularly social media in mobilising protesters is that the coordination of action can take place without any apparent leadership,” he said.

“And we’ve seen that on social media, it’s possible to organise without identifying any leadership at all (which) might itself be a weakness.

“When there is no clarity of leadership and objectives, political action, no matter how dramatic and far-reaching may be futile, may lead in the future to protest fatigue.”

He, however, noted that in situations where the objective of political action is to make substantive or structural changes, it can only be possible within the context of partisan politics.