Minds of the Movement

An ICNC blog on the people and power of civil resistance

Amos Oluwatoye

Amos Oluwatoye is a Research Assistant with the Resistance Studies Initiative, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, conducting research on repression under the guidance of Prof. Stellan Vinthagen. He also serves as the Regional Research Lead for Sub-Saharan Africa in the Demo.Reset 2 Project, implemented by the Centre for Peace Advancement and Socio-Economic Development (CPAED) and supported by the Extituto de Política Abierta in Colombia. An ICNC alumnus, he holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from Adekunle Ajasin University (2006) and a Master's in Public and International Affairs from the University of Lagos (2012). Currently, he is pursuing an MSc in Peace and Security Studies at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Writings from Amos Oluwatoye

Articles

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Lessons from Nigeria on Resisting State Narratives and Repression

Last August, Nigerians across the nation took to the streets to protest poor governance. Police and other security forces cracked down on the demonstrations, resulting in some 20 deaths. Even prior to this acute repression, the Nigerian state and state-ordered actors had for weeks attempted to instill a climate of fear and control the public narrative about the campaign. Yet concerned Nigerians and the campaign organizers, who hailed from several movements and civil society groups, were prepared to counter these measures. […]

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Ideas & Trends

When the Ruling Party is the Butt of the Joke: Humor and Resistance in Nigeria’s Recent Elections

Another presidential election has come and gone in Nigeria, leaving political parties, civil society and a disgruntled electorate in disarray over all the alleged irregularities that were recorded. Bola Tinubu was announced as the president-elect under the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, by an electoral commission largely viewed as incompetent. Aggrieved parties and ordinary citizens have been demanding transparent judgment or re-election, and they’ve been doing so through nonviolent actions that draw heavily on creativity and humor.

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Movement Commentary

Building Bridges on the Path to Justice: Nonviolent Action to End Religious Violence in Nigeria

On May 12, 2022, some students of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, Nigeria, killed a Christian teenager, Deborah Samuel, for alleged blasphemy of Prophet Mohammed. Deborah had complained through a voice note in her class WhatsApp group about how some of her colleagues were posting about religious issues in the group, which she regarded as nonsense, because the initial agreement was that the group should be used for academic updates. A fellow student responded that Deborah had blasphemed Prophet Mohammed. […]

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Movement Commentary

The Arts in Today’s Movements: Insights from Nigeria’s #EndSARS Campaign

In my previous blog post I talked about the destructive role that agents provocateurs played in Nigeria’s #EndSARS campaign, which took place last fall. But there were many examples of beauty and constructive power in this movement as well. One of those was in the form of artistic resistance that emerged from diverse communities across the country. In this post, I will share a few examples below–including photography, video, inspirational designs, illustrations, graphic design, paintings, music and dance—and also offer some analysis of the roles that they played in the campaign. […]

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Ideas & Trends

Nigeria: How Agents Provocateurs Triggered Government Repression during the #EndSARS Movement

On October 3, 2020, a young man was said to have been shot in front of a hotel in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria by a police officer working with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a division of the Nigerian Police Force. The incident served as a watershed event for popularizing the Twitter campaign #EndSARS, which had begun in 2017. […]

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