Perfecting The Art of Slactivism: Nigerians & Social Media Movements in Focus!
By
Martins Chiedozie Ugwu
Johnmartinsworldonline@gmail.com
+2348037553190

"Undertaking work in phases and doing work incrementally is often unavoidable and desirable tool for a Holy Cause . But work must be timely. And each phase and increment of work must contribute constructively to creating, improving and sustaining the greater whole, be it building a skyscraper or an Utopia-like World."

Procrastination and "piecemealism" are among the greatest enemies of effective comprehensive planning, rational urban growth and sound infrastructure turnaround of a given society. Without adequately understanding and anticipating future effects, costs and consequences of a given project and move to get it done, it can torpedo the best intentions of long-range plans, projects and programs.

It is with the understanding of the universe as a mechanism governed by discoverable laws. The belief that human history is a record of
progress and the emergence of Romanticism in the late 18th century, the first modern secularized theories of psychology and ethics and the idea of society as a social contract and the use and celebration of reason, comes the greatest enlightenment.

The age of enlightenment expired as the victim of its own excesses. The more rarefied the religion of the Deists became, the less it offered those who sought solace or salvation. The celebration of abstract reason provoked contrary spirits to begin exploring the world of sensation and emotion in the cultural movement known as Romanticism or what I will described here as the age of Slactivism.

Am talking about a pejorative neologism combining 'slacker' and 'activism' which means 'engaging socially in activism that requires little or no effort as part of a lifestyle or self-identity' just as we can witness in thousands of online movements in Nigeria and other African Countries without any meaningful input to the subject matter. It is believed slactivism usually produces no appreciable results and often perpetuates poor research and hearsay.

According to Guardian of London in its editorial, titled "The Confession of A Charity Professional, dated Wed 20 Jan 2016, it stated "We're failing the next generation of activists by pretending that sharing photos and posts on social media is the same as campaigning for real change" that reminds me of how Charity Workers in African are encouraging slactivism in our continent while taking the real action in their various home countries.

The change of government in Sudan and Algeria happened because people took activism to the next level by engagaging in physical action. Left for Social Media, Jonathan would have won Nigeria president with a land slide but while you were sharing, liking and arguing on social Media, people were busy taking the real action offline.

Are you not shocked that with thousands of whatsapp groups and social media movements in Nigeria claiming to be fighting for this and that, Sowore of RevolutionNow could not generate the much revolutionary enthusiasm needed for real protest. It wasn't also disappointing that no group among the those hundreds of thousands of whatsapp groups could mobilize even up to three persons for physical protest across the country. They were all ranting on whatsapp, liking and sharing while Sowore languished in jail. It take the intervention of foreign powers to get him out of the jail and not your posts or share handles on social media.

Moving from online outrage to physical action-whether it's building a new world or acting to influence a change in someone else requires a much bigger personal investment on almost every level of its operation. What is certain is that no real change can be achieved while sitting at your comfort zone and it seems like everyone in Nigeria and Africa in general especially the so called CSO,s are all sitting in their comfort zones, sharing and liking and one wonder how the society can be repaired with slactivism on the rise. In their comfort zones they make hundreds of post per day, every day but cannot volunteered for 1 hour physical meeting or protest. The world is changing faster.

The problem with slactivism is that the people who are its main proponents usually hardly take any real action or take serious what they are doing. It creates a phony, warm-hearted feeling that you will remember only temporarily until the next act of slacktivism comes along.

Truly, when it comes to social protest or creating awareness for certain subject matter in a society there is definitely more noise out there online. What we just need is a reliable way to convert that noise to action. Unless that happens, no amount of share or like can produce any meaningful effect in shaping our society.

Martins Chiedozie Ugwu-
Former International, President- All African Students, Former Country Representative-World Students Assembly, Chancellor - Noble Youth organization of Africa and former gubernatorial candidate in Enugu state under Justice Must Prevail Party.
Johnmartinsworldonline@gmail.com+2348037553190.