Recently, Nigeria has seen flooding sweep away lives, businesses, and homes. Insurgents and bandits have killed more people in the first half of 2025 than in all of last year. A woman was a victim of non-consensual exposure then jailed in a violent incident involving Ibom Air staff, and a mutated strain of the poliovirus is spreading in under-immunised communities.
What do all these incidents have in common?
All are signs that Nigeria is falling apart, and something has to be done. We’re not talking about social media posts and hashtag slinging — we discussed how young Nigerians can use social media for real change in our first Outrage To Action article — now, we’re here to discuss how you can take the good fight offline.
Take a seat, dear, let’s chat.
Why isn’t digital activism enough?
It isn’t impactful enough, at least, not in the real, long-lasting ways that Nigeria desperately needs.
Digital activism, while vital in today’s world, is also a breeding ground for slacktivism — supporting causes online, but with very little real effort or commitment — and studies have shown that information shared on social media can distort public sentiment, fuel political polarisation, and spread misinformation on legitimate political movements.
Let’s remember that at least 18 million children are out of school in Nigeria, the highest number in the world, according to UNICEF, so misinformation can spread quite quickly around these parts.
Also, our leaders aren’t afraid to, quite literally, shut digital movements up; remember in 2021, when Twitter was banned in Nigeria and in 2024, when government-mandated internet shutdowns hit a record high in Africa?
Anyway, laws don’t change in Instagram comments; pressure needs to be felt on the streets, in institutions, and at the grassroots.
Let’s get into how.
Offline organising means exactly what it sounds like; taking the vim of digital activism and/or grievances, re-constructing it in real life, then using it to address/fix issues.
Offline organising can be intense and direct — protests, rallies, door-to-door sensitisation — as a way to get into people’s faces and media, or it can be more community-focused and/or political, like town halls, community meetings, policy engagement, and press conferences.
These might seem like long talk, and Nigeria is famous for its institutional bureaucracies, but they can pull government and media attention, which, as we explored in our second Outrage To Action piece, can be vital for change.
Also, if you haven’t read that article…
In 2023, residents of Magodo II GRA, Lagos, warned that unauthorised access to the Magodo wetlands by “land speculators and developers” through the estate was a direct threat to the “environment, safety and security” of the community. In a press briefing, Sheriff Daramola, then-chairman of the Magodo Residents Association (MRA), said the project was putting lives and property at risk.
In response to their outcry, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, promised that the state government would create independent access to the wetlands, so they wouldn’t need to go through Magodo II.
On an international scale, in 2014, Ghana’s worsening economic climate and citizen frustration — sound familiar? — led to the #OccupyFlagstaffHouse campaign. It started online, and within 4 days, led to demonstrations and picketing at Flagstaff House (think Aso Rock, but Ghanaian).
While the movement didn’t “fix” the problems overnight, it led to increased public engagement by leaders on economic and governance issues, and the emergence of OccupyGhana as a sustained civic pressure group which uses tools like public campaigns, letters, petitions, and court actions to maintain pressure on government institutions.
Want to know more about youth-led African movements? Check out our 50-Year Legacy of African Youth Movements.
It’s quite the read—we’re unbiased, of course.
Now we understand why offline organising is important, let’s get moving, shall we?
Movements are where scattered frustrations are honed into organised power.
You can either join an existing group in your cause (causes can be: illiteracy in Nigeria, governance, perhaps one of the Sustainable Development Goals, etc.), or really step into your power and start something of your own with a few like-minded peers.
If you’re looking to join an existing group, here are some things to look out for;
If you find a group that fits your search, get involved; Attend community meetings or workshops in your area, pitch stories and get into your citizen journalist bag, volunteer your skills (marketing babe? Run them a campaign, tech bro? Build them a website.), bring a friend along, or even help amplify and fundraise for their work.
Also, follow other advocacy groups on social media, even if they’re not exactly your main cause, and join their mailing lists so you’re up to date with events, workshops or outreaches they put on. These are great for networking — you might even find people to start your own initiatives with — and help further other causes you may be interested in.
Starting your own Group? Make sure you have:
So, agree on a core mission and immediate next steps, like branding, meeting structures, and pooling resources together, then pick one small, winnable cause to build momentum.
Look at that, you’re already doing amazing.
Check out Enough is Enough Nigeria (their Office Of The Citizen Passport is particularly cool) if you’re passionate about holding our leaders accountable and fulfilling your civic duties.
If you’re more interested in tracking the numbers and watching how Nigerian taxpayers’ Naira is spent by the government, Budgit is as close as you can get. We also love their Impact Stories; check them out.
If you’re starting your own movement, structure is doubly important for you—it’s the foundation of the house you’re building. Digital-era uprisings often ignite fast, but they also die out just as quickly—a phenomenon sociologist Zeynep Tufekci dubs the “tactical freeze”, where leaderless momentum fails to adapt or strategise.
You need clear roles because, without them, movements burn out or collapse into chaos, like a group assignment in uni.
Core roles to assign early:
A good tip is to periodically rotate these roles among members to build resilience and avoid power-hoarding and burnout.
Now that you know what groups you want to join or start, and you understand the importance of structure, let’s get our hands dirty!
(In an ethical, non-money laundering way, thanks.)
Attend/organise a Town Hall
Town halls in Nigeria are organised to share updates and hear from the community. Think of them as a meeting between the government and the community/a specific group of people. They’re meant to bring people closer to those who represent and govern them.
Town halls can also bring together different groups. For instance, earlier this year, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) held one with its stakeholders. In 2023, the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, with support from Yiaga Africa, hosted a Citizens’ Town Hall on Electoral Reforms that opened the floor to government agencies, civil society, and the public.
These meetings aren’t consistently scheduled, and knowing when they are is mostly a matter of keeping your ear to the ground, but at town halls like the one in 2024 between the House of Representatives and youth groups (National Association of Nigerian Students, West Africa Youth Congress, etc.), The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, said the Green Chamber would hold these meetings with the Nigerian youth twice a year to hear their plights continuously and address them.
Some states, like Lagos and Akwa Ibom, have structures in place to enable town halls where budgets and other issues are discussed, but they’re also irregular and (in our opinion) shoddily planned.
This is why it’s more important for people to attend these meetings and use them as instruments of change; when they see the active participation of citizens, they’ll take things seriously.
Constituents can also organise by inviting grassroots officials—such as the local government chairman—to meet with the people they serve. A simple way to do this is to draft a letter, have it signed by residents within their jurisdiction, and submit or email it to the local government office.
The key is reminding these officials that they are there for you. To listen, protect and serve you.
Another type of town hall people overlook is legislative town halls—Public hearings.
When the government is debating an important bill, issue or even petition, committees often hold public hearings. These hearings can be attended by normal citizens (like you, dear), civil society groups, and other stakeholders—unless said publicity poses certain risks—to share their views and hear how things pan out.
Committees are expected to announce the date, venue, and topic of a public hearing at least a week in advance—unless there’s an urgent reason to hold it earlier.
So, keep your ears open, gentle reader, so you can rock up to the chambers and stare your leaders right in the cornea as they make judgments that impact you.
It’s the least you can do.
Physical meetings whenever possible, please
If you’re starting your own movement, it’s important that you get into a meeting rhythm. Weekly o, bi-weekly o, monthly o, that consistency is what keeps energy alive.
You can take this a step further by meeting physically as often as possible, even if it’s only a couple members of the team who can meet while the rest join virtually, the act of physically coming together to do something goes a long way in building trust and solidarity, and creating accountability and momentum that only social media just can’t sustain.
Think of it as literally bringing your dreams into reality, the more you physically act on them; these meetings can be training sessions (maybe on protest safety, public speaking, fact-checking, etc.), strategy meetings (mapping next moves, fallback plans, etc.) or even just progress reports.
Get out of the house and do the good work in real life.
Connect, expand and innovate at Innovation hubs
Innovation hubs are exactly what they sound like; they are bubbles that bring together entrepreneurs, startups, tech enthusiasts, researchers, investors, and sometimes even government agencies to develop, test, and grow new ideas, products, or businesses.
TL;DR: Essentially, a support group for startups and new ideas.
Platforms like Co-Creation Hub and the Wennovation Hub help with access to funding, programs that guide entrepreneurs from ideation to launch, networking opportunities and lots more.
You only need basic knowledge of economics to understand how important it is for these innovation hubs to be given space to thrive—think job creation, economic diversification, encouraging knowledge sharing, etc.
Nigerians need more of that.
So, why don’t you attend a couple of events? Stroll into a couple of workshops? You may not have an active desire to build your own startup, but there are a bunch of places you can find yourself useful.
Tangibly, working in tech and innovation is building the country—a big part of your civic duty.
See scope, nau.
Community service as advocacy in action
Physical engagement doesn’t always mean shouting and protests; it can be as simple as repainting a school wall, cleaning up a market, or running free lessons for kids in your area.
These acts turn advocacy into something people can see and touch — proof that the fight for better isn’t only online and in mouths. When communities see activists rolling up their sleeves—ahem, unliketheirleaders, ahem— it builds trust and shows what’s possible if leaders did their jobs, it’s like a reminder that things can be better, we can live better.
Like a little taste test.
Volunteer to teach at Slum2Schools Africa, become a blood donor with LendAnArm, or gather your friends and go on a community cleaning spree.
A repainted classroom or a clean street tells a stronger story than a hashtag or an email alone. It says, we don’t just demand change, we practice it.
Dearest reader, this is a (not-so-gentle) gentle reminder that movements don’t end when the hashtags stop trending; Do you stop being hungry just because you see food being made? The real test is whether all that energy turns into structure, funding, and impact that can carry the work forward.
We must push for the food to be made (WELL), then we can eat and rest… till hunger strikes again.
This is why consistency matters: follow up on demands (think emails, petitioning on and offline, pressure through civic groups, institutions, NGOs, etc), tracking progress (how many people has your advocacy reached? How many are left? What demands has the government responded to?), and training new members so the flame doesn’t die with one generation.
Your drive, met with consistency, and the natural madness every Nigerian is born with, can birth civic groups like Enough is Enough Nigeria, which started as youth protests and grew into one of the country’s most visible civic organisations. The BudgIT Foundation began as a simple idea to make budgets understandable, and today it’s growing into a national watchdog for accountability.
Even the Feminist Coalition, though short-lived after #EndSARS, showed the power of coordinated structures in fundraising, transparency, and messaging. Others, like Stand To End Rape (STER) Nigeria, have turned grassroots advocacy into long-term institutions shaping national conversations.
But let’s not be too carried away with the lofty causes; staying the course also means going local.
Hyperlocal wins — whether tackling insecurity in Yola and Borno, or fighting flooding in Lagos — often create the most visible change.
When people see their everyday problems being addressed, trust builds and momentum spreads.
Let’s take inspiration from Mama Africa; the youth movements that lasted invested deeply in offline work.
LUCHA in the DRC knocked on doors in Goma to explain civic rights and mobilise voters. In Senegal, Y’en a Marre held regular neighbourhood meetings, music broadcasts and concerts, and door-to-door drives to discuss governance and register voters.
So, you can see it’s not just mouth, dear. You too, press.
These actions grounded movements in real communities, building trust and visibility in ways algorithms can’t erase; when online attention faded, human networks (real people in real communities, not just oomfs) kept the cause alive.
Finally, no movement survives without care for its people. Burnout is real, so, please, as you do, don’t over-do.
Pace yourself, share responsibilities, and prioritise mental health when you can. (See our earlier piece on caring for your mind as you navigate this country.)
Remember, the most effective movements are those where people last — not just the hashtags.
Anyway, we know it’s a lot to think about and do, and truly, we’re here to help. So, we’ve put together The Best in Activist Index. From staying up-to-date on crucial matters to groups you can join to do your bit, and places where your new ideas can find a home, we really pulled it all together for you.
We are, simply, too much.
Keep your eyes and ears open
Budgit Foundation
Wearegst
Bello Galadanchi
Lawpadi
Zikoko’s Citizen
Join the good fight
Civic Hive
Enough is Enough Nigeria
Yiaga Africa
Advokc
Lend An Arm
Lagos Food Bank Initiative
Slum2School Africa
Innovation hubs
Wennovation Hub
Co-creation Hub
Future Africa
Orange Corners
TEF Entrepreneurship Programme
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