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Protest isn’t enough, send signals that we are ready to replace them – Seun Kuti
Musician and activist Seun Kuti has urged Nigerians to go beyond protests and push for real political change, following recent nationwide demonstrations against bad governance.
In a recent appearance on “Rubbin’ Minds,” Kuti emphasized that protests alone cannot solve Nigeria’s deep-rooted issues. He referenced Martin Luther King Jr., paraphrasing his words: “I would rather live in a just warzone than in a peaceful place without rights because nothing is more peaceful than an unjust society. People accept their fate and remain silent, allowing the oppressors free rein.”
Kuti lamented how, until a decade ago, Nigerians were seen as the most resilient and happiest people in the world, but no one awarded them for enduring hardship. “Now that we’ve started speaking up for ourselves, we are being punished,” he remarked.
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He criticized the current state of activism in Nigeria, stressing that real change requires systemic organization, not just protests. “Protests are like a child complaining to loving parents, but our leaders don’t care. That’s why I advocate for mass organization. We, the people, must organize for power,” he explained.
Kuti further urged Nigerians to signal their readiness to replace the current political class, warning against merely swapping one bad system for another. “It’s not enough to protest because we dislike what’s happening; we must show that we are prepared to bring in new, genuine representatives—not just another version of the old, like we did with PDP and APC.”
He concluded by calling for a shift away from the capitalist system towards a socialist model, saying, “Protests are only the beginning. We need mass mobilization and a socialist identity to free this country from the capitalist mess we’re enduring.”