By By Ganiu Bamgbose, PhD
The constitution of Nigeria is silent on whether “protest” or its euphemistic version, “peaceful protest”, is allowed or not, and this has resulted in arguments among the legal practitioners in Nigeria. While some lawyers have argued that protest is a constitutional right, others submit that its legality is only within the existence of other rights such as the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. With the controversies surrounding the legal stand, I conceived of grammar as possible intervention in the face of the uproar. After all, the name of an act can serve as its operational boundary. So, what is a protest?
The Online Cambridge Dictionary gives it as “a strong complaint expressing disagreement, disapproval, or opposition”. “If you protest against something or about something, you say or show publicly that you object to it”. The last quote is the clarification given in Collins Dictionary. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary takes it a step farther by defining protest as “the expression of strong disagreement with or opposition to something; a statement or action that shows this”. The ambiguity in this definition, however, is the limit of the action that characterises a protest.
This leads me to the explanation of a synonym for protest: riot. The Cambridge Dictionary defines riot as an occasion when a large number of people behave in a noisy, violent, and uncontrolled way in public, often as a protest. Collins Dictionary makes it clearer that “when there is a riot, a crowd of people behave violently in a public place, for example they fight, throw stones, or damage buildings and vehicles”. Again, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is succinct in its description of riot as a situation in which a group of people behave in a violent way in a public place, often as a protest.
Evident in the explanations of these two words is their somewhat dangerous intersection. While it has been explained that a protest can be action-based, the level of action can swiftly move one to the realm of riot while still assuming one is protesting.
It is at this point deserving of explanation that while protest can be said to be constitutional within the ambits of certain fundamental human rights, section 71 of the Criminal Code Acts in Nigeria is explicit on the consequence of riot: Any person who takes part in a riot is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years. In countries where the legal system distinguishes between very serious crimes and less serious ones, a felony is a very serious crime such as armed robbery. Cambridge Dictionary defines felony as an example of serious crime that can be punished by one or more years in prison.
What is there to add? Whether now or any other time, protesters must be mindful of the tiny line between protest and riot and understand that the latter is a punishable offence. No government anywhere in the world will be tolerant of the vandalisation of public infrastructure and looting. Therefore, it is important for protesters to act within the limit of law and be mindful of the possibility of a swift change from protest to riot. Opinion leaders and influential Nigerians must put measures in place to ensure that what is intended as a protest does not become a riot, especially through the activities of miscreants who will hide under a peaceful protest.
May God save Nigeria!
(c) 2024 Ganiu Bamgbose writes from the Department of English, Lagos State University.
