Opinion
By Daniel Egwu
SLOGANS have become the modern tool of engagement by today’s young generation. It is now a readily handy instrument for mobilisation, group identity, persuasion, moral suasion, meant to both draw and retain attention, and intended to induce believe or action. Hitherto, slogans were employed by advertising practitioners as short, catchy, memorable phrases that convey what your brand is all about and what people get from it. Deploying the general characteristics of simplicity, being concise, timeless, relevant, unique, catchy, emotional connection, easy to remember, recognizable and a call to action, it appears that slogans are the new face of protests and are here to stay.
In Nigeria, the #BringBackOurGirls social campaign transfixed people all over the world concerned about the plight of about 276 school girls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2014. The movement was meant to draw worldwide attention to the unfortunate plight of the students and their parents, galvanize government into action to see to the quick release of the kidnapped girls as well as keep the concerned authorities on their toes, until their release. In reality, the government, hampered by a suspicious lack of political will, a somewhat ill-equipped, unmotivated and seemingly unprepared soldiers, seemed more determined to crack down on the #Bringbackourgirls campaigners than decisively working to free the students.
#EndSars was another memorable but tumultuous saga, that pitted government against its youths. Reacting to deliberate and inexplicable extrajudicial killings, police brutality, assaults, and harassment by SARS, youths in Nigeria, utilising on-line activism, protests, demonstration, civil disobedience and marches, demanded the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, which had gained notoriety for extrajudicial killings and a long record of abuses. This was perhaps the first civil disobedience in Nigeria that shook the entire nation. They were organised, peaceful, united, intelligent in their releases and the overarching beauty of the protests was in its spontaneity.
The gathering this time is not totally different. The expectation immediately after the announcement of the winner of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election was that there was going to be a breakdown of law and order. But Peter Obi urged everyone to conduct themselves peacefully, confident in his ability to retrieve his mandate through the courts, especially after he was proded by his opponents to “Go to court.” The Nigerian judiciary in the past was reputed to apply the rule of law, was equitable and administered justice in its pure form. But is it the same today?
The #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary slogan is a child of circumstance, as Nigerians have recently been treated with shocking, spurious, “bulkachuwanized” and numbing pronouncements from our courts that defy logic. Ordinarily, as a truth, the judiciary, in spirit and letters, should promote the foremost principle of “free and fair judgement,” and in doing so, helping to deepen our democracy. But who in Nigeria can stick out his/her neck to say that our judiciary has covered itself in glory?
More worrying however, is the apparent and perplexing strong arm and knee-jerk reaction by Nigerian authorities to the seemingly harmless call for all Nigerian eyes to be keeping watch on their judiciary. In a manner akin to the fabled saying that, “only the guilty are afraid,” the Nigerian authorities have in their action shown that they are averse to calls to keep watchful eyes on our judiciary to ensure transparency, non- interference and justice to all. While majoring on the minor, they went ahead to dissolve the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP), Secretariat over its approval of the #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary advert.
Outlawing #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary from billboards may be easy, disbanding an agency of government may be easier still, the only snag, which perhaps has played into the hands of the campaigners, is that the government’s action has awakened a sleeping monster and the campaigners have upped the ante, transforming to mobile billboards and using other ingenious ways to pass on their message.
Force no matter how concealed begets resistance. It may subdue for a moment, but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again. There are things we can’t force, we must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is the change of our viewpoint. Our government needs to see things differently.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE JUDICIARY!!!!
***Sir Daniel Egwu is a guest writer for PO Express Media, POEM.
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September 1, 2023 @ 14:55 GMT|
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