OpEd: Femi Adesina Goofed On Purpose And Power Of Protests By Bayo Oluwasanmi | Sahara Reporters RevolutionNow protests have raised awareness about the evils of General Buhari’s tyrannical regime. The protests have fundamentally altered the... READ MORE:
Femi Adesina, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari’s special adviser on media and publicity described the #RevolutionNow protests that took place last week in different parts of the country as mere child’s play and an irritation.
“Well, was it really a protest? By my estimation, it just seemed like a child’s play because protests by their very nature are spontaneous things, mass things, “...What happened yesterday, would you call it a revolution? It was just an irritation...” says Adesina. Adesina doesn’t know what protest is. A protest is an event or action where people come together to publicly express their opinions about socioeconomic and political issues in the society.
It is not the size of a protest that matters, but the substance of the message of the protesters. Research by economists from Harvard University and Stockholm University finds that “Protest does not work because big crowds send a signal to policy-makers - rather, it’s because protests get people politically activated.” Throughout history, small groups that are loosely connected but united by a shared purpose and vision have led to transformational change.
As George Orwell queried: “Why do otherwise rational people embrace irrational or even contradictory beliefs about politics?” Why would Adesina denigrate protesters and deride the #RevolutionNow protest? The purpose and power of protests cannot and should not be trivialized. Protests influence public opinion, draw attention to and share information about a perceived injustice, gain a wide audience for the cause, push public policy, or legislation forward.
Adesina fails to realise that protest is a thesaurus of change and a gold mine of revolution. I cannot stress it enough that it will be wiser for Adesina to learn more from those he disagrees with than from those he agrees with. The revolution is just getting started!
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