Africa Beyond the Headlines: #EndSARS, Political Protest, and Civil Society in Nigeria

With several months having passed since the #EndSARS protests drew international attention and resulted in the Nigerian government’s announcement that the force would be disbanded, unanswered questions remain regarding justice for those killed and whether the unit will really be dissolved. With additional protests being planned alongside the reopening of Lekki Tollgate, we see this an opportune time to examine the causes and outcomes of the October protests. We see the discussion unfolding around a brief history of the police unit and the timeline leading to the October protests, with an opportunity to explore the regional and international drivers—from COVID-19 lockdowns to the proliferation of social media—of the protests.

• Bulama Bukarti, Analyst, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (UK)
• Abosede George, Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, Barnard College (USA)
• Jibrin Ibrahim, PhD, Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria)
• Oliver Owen, Lecturer, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology & Research Associate, Oxford African Studies Centre (UK)
• Moderator: Professor Daniel Agbiboa, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University

Register for the webinar: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nt72Oua1QqCm_FgUbUPJ8A

This webinar will be livestreamed on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/HarvardAfricanStudies/live_videos/

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7:00AM PDT 
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6:00PM EAT 

The Harvard University Center for African Studies has inaugurated this the Africa Beyond the Headlines webinar series as we move our programming to a virtual environment in light of the ongoing pandemic. These conversations bring together the private sector, policy makers, academics, and practitioners for a series of conversations across contemporary issues in Africa, to situate the discussion in a regional, global, and historical context as well as explore the underlying context that is not always evident in headline news reporting. Our aim is for audiences to come away with a deeper understanding of the narratives that do not always find their way into international reporting and begin a series of conversations across disciplines.

ORGANIZER: Harvard Center for African Studies