From Fundamental Questions of Leadership to the Role of Workers in the Movement
Introduction
The EndSARS protest is considered as one of the largest political movements in the history of Nigeria. It began in October 2020 when videos of the brutal killings of two young men by the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police force went viral on the internet. The uprising sparked far-reaching concerns not only amongst Nigerians at home and in diaspora but also at the corridors of Western powers which had long term and prospective interests in Nigeria. Little wonder, when the protests were crushed by the force of arms with the massacre of over 20 persons in what is now remembered as Black Tuesday by many Nigerians, international bodies threw their weight behind the cry for justice even if at least to feign good intent for the world’s most populous black nation. There are many vantage points to draw lessons from a watershed event like the END SARS protests, however, the series you are about to see focuses on the inner weaknesses and shortcomings of the internal organization of the movement, at least from the keen observation of the author. Chief amongst this mishaps is its leadership.
As conditions in Nigeria continue to worsen, with fuel and food prices going up coupled with general collapse of the security infrastructure of the nation due to ethnic tensions, the EndSARS movement and the leadership questions it raised are defining a new era in history of Nigerian popular resistance!
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The prevalent sentiment in the END SARS movement was that it should have no leadership or even representation. The palpable motive for this is that majority of the protesters sought to shield the movement from external influences which can, as has been seen many times in the past, come through officials or representatives. Such external influences have historically led to defeat or betrayal of such movements.
In the immediate, now that there is, if you like, a backward intermission, which has seen a stoppage of the protests in many locations, some have scurried over the constitution of some form of leadership for the movement through online nomination of notable figures, popular activists and celebrities, a development which can have diverse interpretations. One can say it is an act of cowardice to attempt to form coordination or leadership when the protests have largely receded, however before we draw concrete inferences or practical tactics, it is not only important but also appropriate to put the question of leadership in the context of our movement to thorough analysis. This task is more exigent since there are signs of revival of mass action on the streets. Bear in mind that this analysis would be incomplete or lame if it doesn’t emanate from or explain the experiences that we have had through out the two weeks of protests.
“Everybody is a Leader”
To start with, “Everybody is a leader” has become a popular saying in the movement. This is more of a truism than a mere saying and it further means that nobody is a leader. Of course, if every body is a leader it follows that no one is. What are the practical and real essence of such interpretations because again we must not indulge in lifeless philosophizing. So as not to overstretch the meaning of this truism or in order to not undermine our own movement by misinterpreting it we must learn its correct and otherwise application.
What it truly means.
Not only in our movement can everyone be leaders, in fact the term existed prior to the inception of the END SARS movement. If this term is true in context or setting other than that of our movement or if it is true for the general setting then we must ask what everyone is leading or in what field(s) are we all experts. This question might seem a little off or backward considering the level of the current discussion but the first impression of who a leader is is an expert in one field mostly the political field, if there’s anything like that.
So to put things simply a leader is an expert in a field(s) but since experts are not born but made everyone has the potential to be an expert in any field depending on the process of socialization/training such a person has passed through. This is the meaning of the term “everyone is a leader” in the general context that is everyone can be anything or anything they want to be. Everyone is a leader—everyone is an expert in a certain field at least more than others; No one is a leader—everyone can be an expert in any field.
The implications of these for a political campaign like END SARS is that there are experts in social issues or political matters but it is impossible to gauge the experience of participants in order to discover experts. Even in the broader context the barometer for gauging expertise in many fields are flawed, that is why someone without the expected qualifications can be better suited in a field than another with such qualifications. This is just another way to confirm what we have earlier said; anyone can be an expert. Since no one can claim that he is an expert in social issues and there exists no barometer to measure such, the only way for everyone to be a leader is by discussing plans and actions unanimously. To put it simply everyone is a leader in our movement if we arrive at plans and actions through democratic deliberations.