Social Action and the Centre for Global Nonviolence organised  a seminar on nonviolent struggle and social change at Chima Ubani Centre in Social Action, Port Harcourt, from 7 to 8 August, 2009. Over 50 persons representing different organisations participated in the seminar.

The seminar commenced with open remarks by Fidelis Allen and ken Henshaw-representatives of the Centre for Global Nonviolence Nigeria and Programme Officer of Social Action respectively.  In his  opening speech, Allen explained that the seminar sought to redirect energies of activists, leaders of nongovernmental organisations and  community based organisations from violent struggles to nonviolent methods of engagement with power; develop and share ideas about nonviolent struggle against neo-liberal politics and economics among individuals and groups in the Niger Delta;  strengthen and widen existing consciousness  for utilisation of nonviolent methods and practices among individuals and groups in the region. Ken Henshaw stated that the seminar was part of Social Action’s Political Education programme in which training in nonviolence is central.

The seminar was basically interactive with participants contributing and  responded to issues raised in papers presented by facilitators.

Presentations

The first presentation on “Introduction to Nonviolent Struggle: Theory, History and Successes” by Fidelis Allen addressed questions pertaining to the meaning of nonviolent struggle; how it works; how activists, leaders of civil society and community based organisations should organise effective nonviolent actions for social change without killing; and finally, extent of suitability of nonviolent struggle for social change in the Nigeria. Examining the principles of nonviolent struggle, Allen identified a three-step approach, namely: setting the right goals, assessing resource availability and the opponent’s defencelessness. He charged that social movement leaders should expect repressive reactions from the opponent as they undertake nonviolent actions.  Allen buttressed his arguments on the usefulness of nonviolent struggle by drawing examples from contemporary cases across the globe.

Allen’s presentation was followed by Idumange John Agreen who addressed the issue of global crisis of capitalism and its connection with strategies of addressing conflicts arising from its social, economic and political effects.  Agreen argued that the crisis of capitalism is real as the system is self-destructive. Examining how this relates to Nigeria, he blames capitalism for the oil and environment related violent conflicts in the Niger Delta. However, he submits that nonviolent strategies of addressing these conflicts is strategically significant for ensuring lasting peace and justice in the region.

Steve Nwosu made a presentation “Nonviolence and Social Democracy in Nigeria: Lessons from Rosa Luxemburg.”  He examines Rosa Luxemburg’s view on nonviolent tactical political change for social democracy and the lessons for Nigeria.  He began by explaining Nigeria’s capitalist formations in the light of ideas proposed by Rosa Luxemburg’s alternate social democracy project.  A key argument of relevance is the agreement that capitalism is faulty or problematic as a universal socio-economic system. The paper provides an important contribution to academic knowledge on Rosa Luxemburg, whose ideas, up to date, are not sufficiently known by students, scholars and activists. A clear lesson from Rosa Luxemburg is her position on strategies for engendering collapse of exploitative capitalism.

Ikalama Charles’ presentation on “Models of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience” and mentioned the case of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) as an example of civil disobedience in the Niger Delta

Discussions

Following deliberations on issues raised in papers presented during the 2-day seminar, participants adopted a communiqué which stressed that non-violent struggles should not be considered as an end but as means to achieving social justice.