N62m and counting, tallying the funds that animates #ENDSARS protests
It is now nine days since young Nigerians took to the streets to protest police brutality after years of trending #ENDSARS on social media detailing abuse, armed robberies, and extra-judicial killings by a rogue police unit failed to force concrete changes. Now, they are forcing a shutdown of the country and they are paying for it.
According to information published by the feminist coalition, a group of young Nigerians formed in July 2020, with a mission to champion equality for women in Nigeria, the movement has raised over N62.6 million to sustain the protests across Nigeria.
“On October 14, we donated N1,216,080 to 11 protests, the hospital bills of 3 protesters, a donation to the family of a deceased protester, and other supplies.”
Total raised: N62,643,663.05 To t a l disbursed: N13,026,580.00
Balances: N 49,617,083.05 $11,474.34
The group tweeted to provide an accounting for money spent sustaining the protests now rapidly spreading across major cities in Nigeria.
An analysis of the group’s social media posting indicates that the donations are pouring in. Only four days ago, the Feminist Coalition announced that it has raised the total sum of N37,355,149.48 in crowdfunding and is on course to double the amount.
In its recent announcement, the group said it had disbursed the total sum of N13,026,580.00, which represents about 20 percent of the total amount raised so far, an indication that it was raising money faster than it could spend.
According to the group, donations are used to provide first aid care, hire ambulances, buy facemasks, and settle police bail for arrested protesters, pay hospital bills for the injured, feed the protesters, pay lawyers to represent protesters charged to court and even contribute towards the funeral of those killed.
These donations have been received by Nigerians and others, at home and outside the country. The money has come in various forms too, through foreign currency, naira, through payment channels, and even bitcoin.
The group is accounting for every money spent listing specific names of groups that received the donation, where they are located, and what it was used for.
“This shows that we are committed to one goal, which a better Nigeria where everyone will be accountable for the resources entrusted in his or her hand,” said John Babatope, an accountant close to the movement.
This is a radical departure from how government officials through wanton corruption have elevated graft to the status of a norm. The chairperson of the anti-corruption agency, Bolaji Owasanoye, recently said investigations done by the ICPC had shown that some of the funds meant as palliatives by the government towards Covid-19 relief were diverted into private accounts.
“We discovered payment of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children were not in school, and some money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings,” he said.
Following an investigation, Matthew Inabo, an account director with the Federal Ministry of Education, has been re-arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja for his alleged involvement in diverting about N45 million parts of funds meant for the Federal Government’s Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP).
The Feminist Coalition who says they are fighting injustice through peaceful protests, fundraising, and social media organisation, has also been faced with spurious requests for donations and had to urge those sending the requests to desist.
On October 13, the group reported that its bank account being used for donations has been blocked while the link being used to donate through Flutterwave, a fintech company that emerged as the preferred way to donate money for the cause, has been deactivated.
“We’re moving to only accepting donations in Bitcoin using BTC Pay. BTC Pay is a free, secure, decentralised, and censorship-resistant platform, which makes it our best option, given the past few days #EndPolicebrutalityinnigeria,” the group said on Twitter.
Funding is a critical factor for the success of protests. In Nigeria, some popular struggles have been funded by business elites and opposition politicians. Governments have succeeded in breaking up such protests by reaching compromises with these leaders. So, they withdraw their funding and life goes out of the rage.
Some governments have also tried to break up protests by instituting criminal proceedings against those providing funding. For example, the United States Justice Department has launched a criminal inquiry into the leadership and financing of protests against police abuse that have roiled American cities.
Federal authorities claimed it is not against free speech rather “coordinated, criminal activity ... and violence related to riots, destruction of federal property, and violence against law enforcement officers.”
But the protest this time is different. It is entirely crowdfunded by mostly young people and their businesses - some through blood and tears.
At this pace, the group could well hit the N100 million mark before the end of the month if protests are sustained with bitter consequences for the economy. For many young people already without jobs and whose lecturers are on strike for over seven months, the protests provide a distraction from the pain of a troubled country.