There are few things as powerful in a society as the decision of citizens to leave their homes, gather in public, and demand change. A protest can shake governments, alter laws, and redirect the path of a nation. In Nigeria, where people have often felt unheard and misgoverned, protests are one of the few remaining tools that remind those in power that authority belongs to the people, and as far as people in power are concerned the citizens should never protest, the citizens should swallow every rubbish, every wickedness and every injustice dished out to them. Â But there is a problem. Not every protest that gathers people together is what it seems. Some are genuine. Some are organic cries from the heart of society. But few others may not be. And the danger is that foreign interests, or even local opportunists, sometimes seize on genuine grievances, twist them, and turn the streets into tools for their own agendas. We do not always know which is which. And that is the problem.
The question, then, is simple but urgent: how do we test the spirit of a protest? How do we know if it is real, or if it has been hijacked, or if it was manufactured from the start to serve ends far removed from the needs of Nigerian citizens? We need a simple way to tell. Not a perfect way. A plain, reliable set of checks. A way citizens can use. A way that does not require experts or permission. A way that tests if a protest is born here or planted from outside.
This is not an easy question, but it is a crucial one. It requires honesty, intentionality and the courage to look beyond the surface. Because a protest, at its face, always appears righteous. It shows the image of citizens in pain. It presents placards of demands that seem reasonable. It wears the mask of justice. But if we look closer, we can sometimes see hands pulling strings in the shadows or if not careful then we might not see the hand of the puppeteer.
History gives us enough warning and it forces us to ask questions. There is hardly a country in Africa that has not been touched by foreign hands weaponising protest. Across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and even Europe, foreign powers have often used protests to weaken governments they dislike. They fund groups quietly. They infiltrate movements with trained voices. They give media platforms to amplify certain narratives while muting others. And soon, what started as a cry against hunger or unemployment becomes different call that benefits not the people, but an outside force with its own strategic or economic interest. The citizens pay the price, but the foreign hand gains the advantage.
Nigeria is not immune. We are important in Africa. We are too large, too resource-rich, and too strategic to be ignored. Any serious foreign power that wants to control Africa must have an interest in Nigeria. And the cheapest way to weaken a country is not by war. It is by destabilizing it from within, turning its own citizens against themselves, and then walking in later with the language of “peacekeeping” or “humanitarian aid.” or installing its puppets and sympatisers. That is why Nigerians must learn to test every protest, no matter how beautiful the words sound.
So what is the test? How can ordinary people, with no access to intelligence reports or diplomatic cables, know the true spirit of a protest? The test below are by no means foolproof, but they are a starting point. As much as we seek to hold power accountable, we definitely do not want the Country destroyed.
The first test is the origin of the protest. Where did it come from? Who first called it? Genuine protests usually begin gradually and in places where people actually suffer. Farmers protest when their crops are destroyed. Students protest when their schools are shut. Workers protest when salaries are unpaid. Citizens protest rise in cost of living and insecurity. These protests often start small, sometimes unnoticed, and then grow naturally as others join in. But suspicious protests often begin otherwise. They appear almost too well-organized from the start, as if a professional campaign team was waiting. When the birth of a protest looks more like a political campaign launch, we should pause and ask questions.
Second, look behind the curtain and do a quick google search of recent trainings and seminars. Planted protests rarely appear from nothing. They often follow a pattern of quiet grooming. If you trace back, you may find that participants of a protest were only months earlier gathered in halls or online rooms, being taught strategies of civil resistance or digital mobilisation. There is nothing wrong with education itself. People should learn. But the question is always: who organised these trainings, and who paid for them? If the same foreign-linked groups fund repeated seminars in quick succession, and if the themes match the slogans that later appear on the streets, that is no accident. That is orchestration. It may look like grassroots, but the seed was planted elsewhere.
Thirdly, follow the organisers. Ask who they are. Look them up. What have been their antecedents and if any, have they been consistent? Monetary inducement? Real movements grow from people affected. They have names. They have histories. They have local links.
The fourth test is the funding. Genuine protests struggle for resources. People crowd fund it, donate water, food, transport money, and small items from their pockets. You see the sacrifice. But foreign-sponsored or hijacked protests often seem to have endless supplies. local protests often raise small-small sums from neighbours, friends, fellow protetsters etc. When a protest looks richer than the communities it claims to represent, we must ask: who is paying the bills?
The fifth test, watch the tech. Today, campaigns move online first. Check the accounts that push the protest. Do many new accounts appear at once? Do the same messages repeat without nuance? Are posts promoted as ads? Look at who amplifies the message. If large pages from outside Nigeria suddenly join and push the same posts, ask why.Check if the accounts are Bots and paid amplification are signs that the protest may not be purely local.
The sixth test is the message. Genuine protests have clear, limited demands. “We want a reformed Judiciary.” “We want INEC reformed.” “We want the killings stopped.” “No to GMO”. The message is rooted in the people’s lived reality. But hijacked protests are often vague or exaggerated. They quickly shift from practical issues to broad calls like “Down with the government” or “The system must fall.” These phrases are seductive, but they often carry no concrete plan for what comes next. And when the message suddenly sounds identical to the talking points of foreign commentators, then the citizens must be alert. It may no longer be their protest.
Seventh, test for external narratives and foreign nerves. Is the Country currently moving away from certain foreign interests? Is the Country taking certain economic positionsthat threatens hegemony of certain foreign interests?Foreign interests often push causes that match their aims. Watch for alignment. If the protest repeats foreign talking points or mirrors a campaign in another country, ask why. If the slogans benefit a foreign agenda more than local needs, that is suspect.
Eight, observe the media. Who covers the protest and how? Local reporters will show local stories. Foreign outlets may focus on a larger narrative. Neither is wrong by itself. But if foreign coverage dominates from the start, and local voices are missing, check why. If coverage seems coordinated, be careful.
The ninth test is the outcome. Every genuine protest wants dialogue. The workers want government to sit down with their union. The students want the minister of education to intervene. The traders want the governor to visit their market. But suspicious protests refuse every form of dialogue. They are not interested in solutions; they want endless confrontation until the system collapses, and citizen plan for when the system collapse while the foreign interest already have their plans. When you see this, you know the protest may no longer be about Nigerian lives. It may be about power games far beyond our borders, or even within our borders.
It is good to note that these test are not foolproof, and may or may not be mutually exclusive; and even with these tests, we must still be careful. The point of testing protests is not to dismiss them. Far from it. To say every protest is foreign-controlled is to insult the real pain of Nigerians who suffer daily corrupt judiciary, government impunity, INEC collusion, hunger, unemployment, insecurity, corruption; all these are real. They are enough to push any society into the streets. No Nigerian should feel that raising their voice is wrong. Protests are a right, not a privilege. They remain one of the most important checks on power. But rights come with responsibility, and one responsibility is vigilance. We must not allow our collective pain to become another man’s selfish weapon.
Some may argue that citizens are not trained to think this way, that these tests require too much awareness. But the truth is that Nigerians are already skilled at reading between the lines. Every day, in markets, in buses, in workplaces, people weigh rumours, judge intentions, and decide who to trust. Applying that same wisdom to protests is not beyond us. It is simply extending our everyday caution to the political space.
We should also remember that even genuine protests can be hijacked midstream. What begins with honesty can be captured by others who twist it for their own gain. This is why citizens must stay alert throughout, not only at the beginning; and where circumstance demand, citizens mustfight hard for their genuine protests not to be hijacked by selfish local or foreign interests. We want to reform this country to be better, and definetly not to destroy it or make it war torn
Testing the spirit of protests is not about fear. It is about wisdom. It is about reforming this Country and not destroying it. It is about refusing to be pawns in games we did not design. It is about protecting the sanctity of genuine voices while exposing the manipulations of false ones. It is about ensuring that when Nigerians protest, it is Nigerians who benefit and not some distant power smiling behind closed doors.
In the end, the street remains a sacred place of the people. When we gather there, it must be for our freedom, our justice, our dignity. We cannot afford to let that sacred ground be rented out or hijacked for selfish ends. And so, every time a call for protest arises, let us remember to test its spirit. If it passes, we join with courage. If it fails, we unravel it with wisdom. That is how a nation protects both its voice and its soul. We choose to reform this country, to make it better far than we met, and definitely not to destroy it or make it war torn.
Opatola Victor is National Coordinator Lawyers for Civil Liberties.
