Nigerian musician and activist, Seun Kuti, has emphasized that mere protests are insufficient for achieving meaningful change, urging Nigerians to take more concrete steps towards transformation.
Kuti’s comments follow the recent nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, which highlighted the growing discontent over national hardships.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Rubbin Minds, Kuti described protests as merely the initial phase of a larger movement.
“What I will say to Nigerians is that protest is not enough. I see protests as a child going to a loving parent complaining, ‘Oh, daddy, mummy, I don’t want to eat this,’ because the daddy and mummy care. But these people don’t care; that’s why I don’t preach protest only; I preach mass organisation because we the people must also organise ourselves for power,” he stated.
He stressed the importance of not only protesting but also showing readiness to replace current leaders with genuine representatives from the people’s side.
“It is not enough that we are protesting because we don’t like what they do, we must also send signals that we are ready to replace them. Not with another version of themselves like we did before, PDP to APC but with new people, representatives from our side of the divide to rule this country for our own benefit,” Kuti added.
Kuti called for a broader mobilization towards a more equitable system. “It is not enough that people want to protest. Protest is the begining of this dance. The real party starts when we begin to mass mobilise into a socialist to release this country from capitalism that we are experiencing,” he said.
