Nwanyeruwa: A moment for the women who have led and shaped Nigeria’s Resistance Movements
From the Aba Women’s riots of 1929, where women across Eastern Nigeria protested an impending tax through sophisticated means such as ‘sitting’ on men, to the tax revolt and literacy classes for market women in the 1940s organized by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti in the South-West, Nigerian women have always played key roles in the fight for freedom against ineffective governments, and for better political representation.
With the #EndSARS protests of October 2020, this was no different. An added bonus however, was the recognition of all the different efforts led by women in real time. In a country that sometimes feels at odds with itself on how best to engage, include and maximize the potential of women, October 2020 has reminded us that women are ready and able to continue doing the work of nation building and seeking a better Nigeria.
“Throughout the #EndSARS protests, we witnessed young Nigerians speak up and demand justice from elected officials and state security agencies in what has felt for years like a never-ending battle of ‘state vs youth.’”
Initially sparked by a viral video of a Special Anti-Robbery Squad officer shooting a young man on October 3rd in Ughelli, Delta State, the protests took on a life of their own and quickly spread across the country. From Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt to Ogbomosho and Jos, amongst other cities, young Nigerians were calling for the disbandment of a rogue unit of the Nigerian Police Force popularly referred to as SARS. By October 9th, the first protests were held on the Lagos mainland, with concerned citizens who staged a sit-in at the Government House in Alausa. In a viral video of this incident, twitter users became acquainted with a young woman - Rinu Oduala who was outspoken on the issues of police brutality and the horrors faced at the hands of the special anti-robbery squad.
Throughout the #EndSARS protests, we witnessed young Nigerians speak up and demand justice from elected officials and state security agencies in what has felt for years like a never-ending battle of ‘state vs youth’. However, we would be remiss not to highlight the vital and crucial contributions of young Nigerian women, in not just lending their voices but also sustaining the protests for weeks.
The first protest I attended came about thanks to a Twitter user @LadyTiffs, who highlighted the need for the protests to spread to Lagos’ Island, and the next day we gathered at the foot of the Lekki-Ikoyi Link bridge to march to the Deputy Governor’s house. By the second day all major expressways had been blocked by protesters, with mostly young Nigerians, chanting and calling for the disbandment of the now notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad. One of the things that struck me was the presence of so many young Nigerian women who were lending their voices while being insistent that roads remained blocked and oftentimes sitting on the coal tarred roads themselves, to prevent cars from moving beyond the protest point.
Support
Initially starting as a donation request for N50,000, for protesters who spent the night at the Government House, popular Lagos-based podcaster Feyikemi Abudu (@FkAbudu) was able to build a full fundraising and protest support unit to support protesters across the country. And as protests continued to spread rapidly, a group known as The Feminist Coalition, founded in July 2020 by Odunayo Eweniyi and Damilola Odufuwa, stepped up to support the protests. Armed with a group of 12 other women, they were able to set up a fund to receive donations from people around the world to support the movement.
Women of the Aba Women's war
The Feminist Coalition - which quickly became known as Fem Co - was able to create a decentralized system to support the protests in 30 states in Nigeria, providing funding to protesters as long as they could provide sufficient evidence of the legitimacy of their protests. With the support of the #EndSARS Legal Response team led by Moe Odele, The Food Coven - a national food distribution apparatus for the protests and popular Chef, @chefobubu, protesters around the country were fed, had emergency health supplies and lawyers on speed dial if there was a need to bail out anyone arrested.
In the country’s capital of Abuja, popular activist, Aisha Yesufu who was a part of both the #BringBackOurGirls and #sexforbailisrape movements also lent her voice to the cause showing support to protesters across Nigeria. Another female twitter user, Zara Dilli, organized the first candlelight service in the FCT in honour of those who had died, an idea that would go on to be replicated across the county.
In the aftermath of the protests, following President Buhari’s address and thinly veiled threats to protesters, there have been calls for increased political participation from Nigerian youth as part of the next phase of engagement. In these suggestions, some have prodded Fem Co to transition into a political party. For the first time in our lifetimes, young Nigerians bore witness to what fundraising and accountability on a large scale can do - and that this exemplary leadership came from a group of women is not coincidental. As we think of next steps, and acknowledge the challenges faced by already-existing and relatively new political parties, should the creation of new political parties be idealized as the next best step? Should all good and accountable people seek to run for office and ignore the other factors that make the problems of fixing Nigeria more difficult with each passing day?
In a country where women have traditionally encountered significant roadblocks to political office and continue to see reduced influence in political outcomes, how might we think of the best ways for women to continue excelling in their roles of nation building, that allows us to go beyond party politics? Civic participation calls for engaging with the different parts of governance required to make a country work, and in filling the vacuum of roles that exist, it is important to interrogate what this other work might look like.
“Should all good and accountable people seek to run for office and ignore the other factors that make the problems of fixing Nigeria more difficult with each passing day?”
On a recent panel on filling leadership vacuums at the 2020 Ake Festival, activist Boniface Mwangi mentioned the importance of forming and supporting causes that are rooted in ideology and a common goal beyond what sometimes feels like checking a diversity box. With the current paucity of women in political office, it is crucially important that we see more women run for and win. However, our collective vision of what change looks like should push us further than having one or two sensible people in office. It should have us asking whether or not Nigeria currently works for women and allows women the space to excel, and what steps we need to be taking as a collective to fix the areas where we find gaps.
While Fem Co presents itself as a great case study in what can be achieved when women come together and are supported by a common mission, we must not relent in interrogating the everyday hurdles women face while trying to push the status quo and demand for a better and more just society. Supporting women is a conscious action that should not be ignored until it is convenient.