 Seun Kuti, Convener, Naija Resistance Movement & National Chairman, Movement of the People Just before the EndSARS protests broke out last October, Nigeria marked its 60th year of “independence” from the British. As the world’s most populous Black nation—one in four Black people is a Nigerian—the source of over 50% of Africans enslaved by Europeans, and the producer of the world’s leading Black doctors, artists, engineers and writers, Nigeria is a beacon of hope to many in the Diaspora seeking to reconnect with their African heritage. But Nigeria is bleeding. The prevailing narrative minimizes the devastation in a country that produces some of the highest IQs in the world, as well as some of the most impoverished people—economically and spiritually. Half of the Nigerian population lives in extreme poverty, state-sponsored violence has become a daily occurrence, and basic amenities have been eroded by the state. The country has reached a breaking point. (R)evolution is not just eminent, it is unfurling slowly before our eyes. Oloye Tondu, National Coordinator of the Naija Resistance Movement (NRM) and member of the newly re-activated Movement of the People (MOP), states that 99% of Nigerians have been dehumanized by the perverse conditions under which they have been forced to live for the last two generations. MOP, founded in 1979 by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, was reactivated last year in response to the Lekki Massacre of 10.20.20–with a mandate for Liberation of the Nigerian masses, primarily focused on the poor and the youth. Tondu says about the political movement: “MOP is here to Liberate the people. Sufferation is over. Death caused by human beings, by police is over. The real Liberation of Nigeria is here. The mindset of the people coming together is of Nigerian youth and masses focused for change. Very focused.” |
 Illustration of Iyinoluwa Aboyeji for Quartz Africa Innovator’s List, 2016. |
| The youth are indeed taking their country back. In addition to those organizing for political renewal, some of the most inspiring revolutionaries are actually tech entrepreneurs. Over the last decade, they’ve been re-shaping public opinion, educating the youth and providing them with job opportunities beyond their wildest dreams–opportunities that were unimaginable just ten years ago. In doing so, they’ve cultivated a generation whose technological savvy exceeds that of their parents’ generation by light years, and whose extraordinary mobilization prowess has confounded the Nigerian oligarchy. One of the key figures in the emergence of Nigeria’s recent technological (r)evolution is Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. The founding of one of his earliest companies, Andela, completely transformed Nigeria by injecting the local economy with hard-earned foreign currency through young talent empowered with highly profitable software development skills. His current company, Future Africa, invests in African startups, and returned $3.7 Million to investors at the end of 2020. Aboyeji will be the first in our Black Genius series, Harambeans 10×10, featuring ten Harambeans who are building Africa’s future through visionary, market-creating, global enterprises. Join us live on our YouTube page on Friday, Feb 5 at Noon EST | 6pm WAT to meet Aboyeji; or subscribe on Apple podcasts to hear the conversation next week. Learn more about the 10×10 series, Harambeans and Aboyeji here. |