Occupy Nigeria protesters plan compendium

Some participants  of the January protests wants to collect essays on the experiences of the protests participants

Sani Tukur

Some leaders of the Occupy Nigeria movement, who led protests against the Federal Government over its decision to remove subsidy on petroleum products, say they are planning a compendium that will capture “the relationships broken, families destroyed, and jobs lost” as a result of their participation in the protests.

One of those leading the publication of the compendium, Martin Obono, who, alongside some friends, were the first set of people arrested by the police during the January protests, spoke on some of the group’s plan.

“It has become very imperative for us to create lasting memories and a historical narrative of what transpired in January,” he said.

On how materials for the compendium will be generated, Mr. Obono said the group has decided to create an email address where all those who participated can send in their experience through text and pictures.

“Some of the stories we have received from young people who participated in the protests have been mind boggling, interesting and fascinating. We need to document these stories for posterity. Therefore, we are collecting essays of people who participated in occupy Nigeria into a compendium that would be published in December, 2012,” Mr. Obono said.

Mr. Obono said the email that will be used to collect contributions is myoccupynigeriastory@gmail.com. He encouraged people to send in their stories because if “if we don’t tell our story, no one will”.

The group says a blog has been created for the same purpose: myoccupynigeriastory.blogspot.com.