Since the time of amalgamation in 1914, Nigeria has been known for getting their demands by force from the government. Protests have been part of the Nigerian system before the advent of democracy and have helped to shape the country at every point in history. The recent End SARS protest is a pointer that the government on all fronts may not yield to popular demand except the people call their attention to them, by the way of protest.
However, there have been some peaceful protests which yielded desired results and there have been ones that turned bloody, the end of such protests justified the tool deployed to challenge the system.
Below are 10 protests in Nigeria’s history that made headline news and also reshaped the scheme of things in the history of Nigeria.
ABA WOMEN RIOT
The Aba Women’s Riot featured women rebelling against economic and socio-political oppression in Bende, Umuahia, and other regions of Igboland. Over 10,000 women came out to protest from majorly six ethnic groups: Ibibio, Andoni, Ogoni, Bonny, Opobo, and Igbo.
The Aba women’s riot is often referred to as a war, resulting in the death of 51 women and 1 man.
Direct taxation on men was introduced in 1928 without major incidents, thanks to the careful propaganda during the preceding twelve months. In September 1929, Captain J. Cook, an assistant District Officer, was sent to take over the Bende division temporarily from the serving district officer. Upon taking over, Cook found the slated nominal rolls for tax inadequate because they did not include details of the number of wives, children, and livestock in each household. He decided to revise the nominal roll to include these.
OPERATION WET-E
Operation Wet ¹ was a violent protest that took place in Western Nigeria between violent political factions, the Hausa-Fulani natives and some members of the Nigerian National Democratic Party during the First Republic which eventually led to the first military coup in Nigeria on 15 January 1966.
The term “Operation Wet ¹” was coined from the setting ablaze of politicians and their properties with petrol, with many victims of the political violence killed by “necklacing.” During the early 1960s, violence was on a rapid rise in the political system of Nigeria which led to the introduction of Operation Wetie whereby political gangs were used to disrupt elections.
Operation Wet ¹ was significantly used in 1962 when Chief Ladoke Akintola and Chief Obafemi Awolowo were embroiled in a protracted crisis thus leading to a high rate of violence and acts of lawlessness with lawmakers engaging themselves in vicious physical combats in the Western regional parliament.
AGBEKOYA
Agbekoya Parapo Revolt of the late 1960, popularly known as Agbekoya or the Egbe Agbekoya Revolt, was a revolt by peasant farmers against the former Western Region Government following an increase in tax. It was said that the farmers went from village to village to persuade their colleagues not to pay the increased tax to the then government.
It was because of the imposition of additional tax on farmers. Before the crisis, the government was assessing farmers based on farm produce. Suddenly, they introduced a policy that the farmers would be assessed alongside their children to soar government revenue. It was becoming unbearable so they revolted against the government tax collectors.
The farmers revolted against the then Western Region Government of the late General Adeyinka Adebayo between 1968 and 1969 over Marketing Board imposition of flat and hefty $8 tax on fathers as opposed to the $1.10 they wanted to pay on their farm produce, especially cocoa. They were peasant farmers in Nigeria’s former Western Region, home to the majority of the country’s Yoruba population.
The revolution staged led to the colossal carnage at Olorunda village in the Akanran area of Ibadan with casualties on both sides – farmers and the government agents represented by policemen.
ABEOKUTA WOMEN REVOLT
The Abeokuta Women’s Revolt (also called the Egba Women’s Tax Riot) was a resistant movement led by the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU) in the late 1940s against the imposition of unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government.
The women of Abeokuta believed that, under colonialism, their economic roles were declining, while their taxes were increasing.
In October 1946, the Abeokuta Ladies Club under the leadership of Madame Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti submitted a list of demands to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Sir Ladapo Ademola II and one of their demands was the abolition of tax on women in Abeokuta amongst other issues around their welfare. Their demands were ignored; Madame Olufunmilayo was arrested and fined 3000 Pounds or risk going to prison.
On November 29th 1947, she led a protest of 10,000 women to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland. They camped around the palace for more than two days, sleeping, cooking and conducting all their affairs around the palace grounds. The Pressure was so huge on the colonial government that they had to abolish the tax laws and the Alake of Egbaland
Additionally, they argued that until they were granted representation in local government, they should not be required to pay taxes separately from men. As a result of their protests, four women received seats on the local council, and the taxation of women was ended.
ALI MUST GO
It was a nationwide agitation that brought the National Union of Nigeria Students (NUNS) into an open confrontation with the Olusegun Obasanjo led Military government and the stern-looking men of the Nigerian Army.
The bloody episode which popularized the power of Nigerian students started in April 1978, when the government asked the students to make more contributions by adding 50K to their cost of meals per day.
The increment meant that the cost of the meal would rise from N1.50 to N2.00.
The then Minister of Education, Ahmadu Ali was at the centre of the matter until everything collapsed on his head.
Following the announcement, which didn’t go down well with the National Union of Nigeria Students, Segun Okeowo, the then president of the union made a move to address the issue.
The students held a meeting in Maiduguri, Ilorin and finally in Calabar before taking a bold step to challenge the military government on the increment.
All along, Ali was trying to make the students believe that the increment was made by the Supreme Military Council and not by the Ministry of Education.
However, when the NUNS realized the government was not willing to reverse its decision, they resorted to demonstration and that was the moment things began to fall apart.
The protest slogan, ALI MUST GO rent the air as the Minister of Education was believed to be the cause of the crisis that led to the students’ deaths.
After one week of the nationwide protest, the Federal Government shut down all universities and students were advised to leave the campus.
The Segun Okeowo led students union and the ALI MUST GO saga remains a notable students led aluta in Nigeria.
PA IMOUDU’S FIRST NATIONAL STRIKE
Pa Michael Imoudu led one of the biggest union strikes in the history of Nigeria. While the protest took it heavy tolls, the country was shut down for over four days. Imoudu started labour union activities as a member of the Railway Workers Union (RWU), the union was to become one of the most militant unions in the country during the colonial period.
In 1941 Pa Imoudu sought the government’s and railway management’s consent to improve the conditions of technical employees. Though, the colonial government ratified some of their demands, the railway management was slow to implement the changes. After a while, the management released its concessions to the workers who were displeased and several negotiations further took place between July and September 1941.
On 30 September 1941, the mechanical workers found their gates locked on the order of the Works Manager. Imoudu then led a march to the seat of government in Lagos Island shouting for the ouster of the works manager. The protest got the attention of the government which took immediate measures to resolve the workers’ grievances. Though the demonstration was successful, Imoudu later had constant clashes with European managers, it has been said that a reason of the clashes was his disagreement with the preferential treatment meted out to European officials. Between 1941 and 1943, he was queried many times and was dismissed in January 1943.
In July 1941, a representative meeting of some select trade unions in Nigeria was held in Lagos. The meeting led to the founding of the African Civil Servants Technical Workers Union to protect the interest of the African technical workers. Imoudu, representing the railway union was selected as the Vice President. The new union began to agitate for a grant of cost of living allowance or war bonus. In 1942, Imoudu was a labour negotiator in talks with the government to grant a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to workers to soften the effects of inflation as a result of World War II. The government made some COLA concessions in 1942 under the leadership of Bernard Bourdillon, however, some of those concessions were revoked by Arthur Richards.
In 1943, after his dismissal Imoudu was detained but his detention was later changed to restriction of movement under the Nigerian General Defence Regulations, 1941 which was closely related to the British World War II Defence Regulations acts. He was released on 20 May 1945 after the end of the war. However, on 2 June 1945, a large rally was held to welcome him back to Lagos. In the same year, the organized labour movement was negotiating for improved COLA terms. It is assumed his release was to soften the effect of a labour crisis. However, on 21 and 22 June 1945, Imoudu led a radical wing of the organized union to organize a general strike.
JUNE 12 PROTEST
The June 12 protests against the Military regime of General Sani Abacha had scores of people killed; students inclusive. The journey for a better Nigeria it seems would be forged through the series of agitations.
Rioters fought police officers and soldiers as tens of thousands of people set fires and blocked roads to demand an end to military dictatorship. No fewer than 26,000 people were reported to have been killed across the state
The reported winner, Moshood Abiola, appealed to people to resist the dictatorship of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and ignore an ultimatum threatening to dissolve Parliament. ‘Ignore This Latest Threat’
“Ignore this latest threat by the outgoing military President,” Mr. Abiola, a businessman, said in a statement, “and damn the consequences.”
Soldiers killed several rioters who set a truck on fire in Ikoyi, a well-to-do neighborhood of Lagos, the Pan-African News Agency reported. The agency, set up by the Organization of African Unity, quoted witnesses as saying the troops had piled bodies into the back of a truck and driven away. Other witnesses said five people had died in the incident.
It has however been reported that the sacrifices of June 12 1993 has paid off with the 4th Republic that Nigeria enjoys today.
OCCUPY NIGERIA
#OccupyNigeria was one of Nigeria’s early social media-led protests that gained international attention. It started on the 2nd of January 2012 when the President Goodluck Jonathan administration announced the removal of subsidies on petroleum products and a subsequent sharp increase in price. The decision was later reversed after protesters prevailed for a little over two weeks and the government lowered fuel price per litre from ¦ 140 naira to ¦ 97. Top Nigerian elites, politicians, youths, entertainers and civil groups came together to halt economic activities in Nigeria. The whole of the states across Nigeria converged to protest against the proposed subsidy removal and call for a more transparent government.
Within a week that the protest began, the serving president, yielded to the plight of the people and reversed the unpopular policy.
BRING BACK OUR GIRLS
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 female students were kidnapped from the Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.Responsibility for the kidnappings was claimed by Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist terrorist. It was gathered that 57 of the schoolgirls escaped in the months following the incident, while others were rescued by Nigerian military forces on several occasions since.
About a week in to the sad incidence, it was reported the federal government did nothing to address the situation, stating that the news was politically motivated.
Prominent social crusader, Aisha Yesufu and Obi Ezekwezilli launched a campaing tagged #BringBackOurGirls on social media before mobilizing the parents of the kidnapped girls and concerned Nigerians to storm the city of Abuja to demand federal action.
The global response to this movement started off as a handful of tweets by Nigerian citizens and government officials.
Shortly after this, many celebrities joined in on social media holding pieces of paper with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
The social media movement resulted in offline protests around the world, including this one in Spain.
Numerous celebrities were photographed holding up signs in photographs showing support for the Bring Back our girls movement, including Salma Hayek, Bradley Cooper, Antonio Banderas, Gerard Butler, Kelsey Grammer, Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, Ronda Rousey, Mel Gibson, Simon Baker, Ricky Martin, Eva Longoria, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Ben Stiller, Justin Timberlake, Sean Combs, Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Sean Penn, Alicia Keys, Ellen DeGeneres, Jamie Foxx, Amy Poehler, Anne Hathaway, and Malala Yousafzai and many more.
There have since been an annual program held in remembrance of the abducted girls. Some have been rescued and some found their ways back home. Over a hundred girls are still reportedly under the captivity of the Islamist group as wives and maids.
End SARS
#EndSARS started in 2017 when Segun Awosanya popularly known and other activists on Twitter began to demand that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) be scrapped. And every year since then, #EndSARS has remained a key issue for young Nigerians.
According to Amnesty International’s 2016 report, SARS is indicted and responsible for human abuse, cruelty, degrading treatment of Nigerians in their custody and other widespread torture. A 2020 publication by the organisation indicates that between January 2017 and May 2020, they have documented at least 82 cases of abuses and extrajudicial killings by SARS. This figure is probably conservative at best.
In 2018 Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo ordered that the management and activities of the unit be overhauled. In 2019, a specially formed Presidential Panel on the Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad recommended reforms along with the dismissal and prosecution of named officers accused of abusing Nigerians. President Muhammadu Buhari gave the Inspector General of Police three months to implement the recommendations.
Nothing was done.
Footage of alleged SARS officers shooting a young Nigerian in Delta State emerged on the 3rd of October on social media and triggered the latest round of protests. The officers allegedly drove off in the man’s car.
By the 8th of October, nationwide protests led by young Nigerians had started in several cities. The protests were peaceful but the Nigerian Police Force began throwing teargas and shooting at unarmed protesters. The outcome was serious injuries and the death of one Jimoh Isiaq in Oyo State.
Now, #EndSARS protests are happening around the world as we speak despite the halt in Nigeria by hoodlums and the government. Many celebrities has joined the protests. The government has disbanded SARS again but protesters are not backing down. This disbanding is not new, the demand this time is for a thorough reform and justice for victims dead or alive.
Protesters coordinate via social media and come out in droves to support each other. The movement also appeared to have no appointed leaders making it difficult for the government to apply a divide and conquer strategy.
It is clear that Nigeria’s youth fought against a system of oppression that has held them back and called them lazy despite their best efforts. Therefore, there is a fierce determination to the protests this time.
Nigerian youths walked in the footsteps of their ancestors who have come out to face the government. This time, we have new tools and new energy. We will remain peaceful. We will remain fierce and determined.
On the 20th October, 2020, the protesters who gather at the Lekki toll gate were attacked by armed men reported to be soldiers from the Nigerian Army. This was followed by a sequence of looting and killing across the states. Angry youths also took to warehouses where pandemic palliatives are kept and carted all the food items.
