Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has told Nigerians and the rest of Africa that political actions must go beyond protests.
Rather, they should be accompanied by other political actions to achieve measurable reforms.
Osinbajo, who also underscored the transformative role of technology in political action and governance, urged citizens and leaders to leverage technology as a tool for advocacy, inclusivity, and societal reform.
“Political action today must go beyond protests. We must see activities that directly catalyse development as important features of political action.
“And I want to emphasise that protests, of course, are crucial. They are important, but we must use our resources also for direct action that have development objectives.
“We can instigate official action in various ways, for example, intervening in important areas of human capital development, such as education or healthcare,” said the ex-VP.
The former VP who also spoke on protest without leadership, said: “Advantage of technology and particularly social media in mobilising protesters is that the coordination of action can take place without any apparent leadership.
“And we’ve seen that on social media, it’s possible to organise without identifying any leadership at all (which) might itself be a weakness.
“When there is no clarity of leadership and objectives, political action, no matter how dramatic and far reaching may be futile, may lead in the future to protest fatigue.”
He spoke in Lagos Thursday at the Technology, New Media, Citizens, and Governance (TNCG) conference, themed ‘Technology: The Present and Future of Political Action in Africa’ convened by Enough is Enough Nigeria and BudgIT.
…Technology in political discourse
On the importance of technology in today’s political discourse, Osinbajo said: “Why technology is so important in the discourse on political action. It is because technology is both a tool and a radical expression of a crucial right, a fundamental right to freedom of expression.”
The ex-vice president, who listed some pressing issues in Africa to include poverty, economic instability, and climate change, stressed the need for the elite’s involvement in addressing these challenges through equitable leadership and technology adoption.
While recalling Nigeria’s #EndSARS movement and Kenya’s Gen Z uprising, Osinbajo emphasised how social media and digital platforms were used for real-time communication, awareness creation, and mobilisation.
“The most dramatic use of technology is the use of social media for protest mobilisation. And that, I think, is the one that I was especially impressed with. Platforms like X, Instagram, were used in organising the EndSARS protest in Nigeria.
“Activists coordinated rallies; they raised funds, presented evidence of law enforcement violations, real time, and also raised international awareness using the hashtags. Much of the same approach was used in the EndBadGovernance protests.
“More recently, the so-called Gen Z uprising in Kenya protesting the Finance Bill 2024 saw the use of TikTok and X to spread awareness, plan demonstrations, share information, and then to avoid the police, the protesters used the Zelo app, which functions as a real-time walkie-talkie, so they were able to use this app to avoid the police because this app enabled them to have live updates on police movements, and then they were able to plan accordingly,” Osinbajo said.
Osinbajo, who acknowledged the inherent benefits of technology, also referenced incidents like the Cambridge Analytical scandal and AI-driven deep fake videos, which, according to him, fuelled misinformation and societal divisions.
On self-regulation in social media to mitigate risks like misinformation, he said: “But social media platforms, as we’ve heard also, and I think two or three people have referred to that, can be a threat to democracy. They can be a threat to social cohesion and individual and collective security.”
The former number two man urged reforms in Africa’s education systems, and therefore advocated AI-driven solutions to tackle the continent’s out-of-school children crisis.
The former VP also identified innovative platforms like Emshule in Kenya, which, he said, uses AI for personalised learning, as examples of how technology can revolutionise education.
To this end, he called for a review of the nation’s educational curriculum to prioritise collaboration and critical thinking over competition, proposing that such reforms would foster community development and social cohesion.
He said sustainable change requires elite-driven advocacy and action within partisan political frameworks.
Osinbajo described “the elite as influential individuals across various sectors—politicians, business leaders, religious figures, and civil society activists—who can shape public opinion and reform.”
Former VP Osinbajo called for broader participation in political processes to amplify marginalised voices, explaining that that “technology, when responsibly deployed, can bridge gaps in governance, education, and civic engagement.”
…Lagos efforts
Also speaking at the conference, Lagos state Commissioner for Innovation Science and Technology Olatubosun Alake highlighted various programmes in the state aimed at empowering entrepreneurs, such as the Lagos Innovates initiative and digital skills training for over 4,000 individuals.
Alake emphasised the importance of providing the right technology tools and training people to use them effectively for economic value creation.
He added that to achieve transformative technological drive Africa, there is need for a collaborative approach involving government, civic societies, and citizens to use technology responsibly.
…TNCG Conference
The event was organised by BudgIT and Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria and sponsored by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and Paradigm Initiative.
PREMIUM TIMES, Business Day, The Cable, News Central, Tech Cabal, and Women Radio are the event’s media partners.
In his opening remarks, the Country Director of Budgit, Gabriel Okeowo, emphasised the importance of leveraging technology to drive political transformation across Africa.
“This platform is dedicated to harnessing the power of technology to drive political transformation across Africa,” he said. “Today, we gather to explore how we can collectively leverage our strengths to engage positively with governments and play our roles as active citizens or institutions.”(Additional reports from Premium Times)