Thread by @subomiplumptre

FOCUS - WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHY YOU MUST SIEZE THE MEDIA NARRATIVE OF #ENDSARS NOW!

Dear young Nigerians, it's time to FOCUS. Evil has crossed the doorway of the #EndSars protests and is now operating amidst the smoke of confusion and the cacophony of discordant voices. Listen!

The protests were peaceful. Your organisational skills were unparalleled. Your cause is still just and right. In exchange for your bravery & idealism, you were rewarded with carnage, oppression & betrayal. Then, the hoodlums crept in. Divisive ethnic & religious forces walked in.

Those who hate technology, social media, decentralised finance and all the freedoms those things bring, marched in. Political opportunists stepped in.

Whenever there is a crisis, OPPORTUNITIES are created. Sadly, it's not looking like you are the ones now mining them. This is because typically, three main groups profit from opportunities created by crisis:

FIRST, those who do the most violence and so must be appeased.

SECOND, those who shout the loudest.

THIRD, those who are wise, crafty and political.

Young people, violence has been unleashed upon you by those who control the levers of power. They have activated their social media troll farms to drown you. They took your negotiation seats at the table as you had no representatives. FOCUS.

Previous generations fought for freedom. When they achieved some negotiation power, they could not transform the gains to achieve sustainable change. They could not combine activism & media clout with wisdom & political savvy to cause progress.

Please break the cycle of two steps forward, five steps back. Be different. Do differently. Sieze the day and urgently too!

1. Shape your story and keep promoting the evidence. Understand the stakeholders you must influence and target your stories accordingly. You must win over those that matter.

2. Do not allow people to pin the break down of law and order on the peaceful protesters. Create a clear distinction and keep refuting the negative narratives.

3. Take over media; grant live local & international interviews and write articles EVERYWHERE. Equip your supporters with the information to amplify your message. Actively resist every attempt to be lied against. But do so in a coordinated fashion. May the good cause prevail!