These times of the #EndSARS crusade which suggests an ongoing Nigerian Revolution is a time for action rather than words. But as the days go by, the documentation of this crucial moment in Nigerian history becomes all the more necessary, to combat present denial and forestall future revisionism.
This documentation is achieved not only by on-the-spot social media updates—which have been incredibly useful—but also by book-length works such as anthologies, which are means of sustained, deliberate, critical engagement with the subject of protest in general and the #EndSARS protests in particular.
Praxis Magazine, therefore, invites all creatives partaking in this fight to end the evil of SARS and police brutality in Nigeria to submit non-fiction (including essays on protest photographs), fiction, poetry, and visual art on the momentous protests, debating the direction of these protests and what it means to be living in Nigeria now.
Prose (fiction and non-fiction) can range from 1000 to 2500 words; double-spaced, Times New Roman or Arial font type 12.
Poetry should not exceed 30 lines. Format doc. according to the guideline of prose above.
Submit your work as an MS Doc attachment to editorial@praxismagonline.com with the title of the email as “#EndSARS Submission”.
Send visual art (photographs, illustrations and graphics) as an attachment. Size: maximum of 2MB.
The deadline for submissions is 31st March, 2021.
Note
We understand the precarious situation that has arisen from the #EndSARS protests. We do not urge writers submitting essays to put their lives on the line because of this call for submission. Pseudonymous submissions are therefore encouraged.
Our words are TY Bello’s in her song “The Future”: Carry the song, carry the sound. The future indeed has come. We have added, below, a video highlighting the ongoing protest.
Update
On February 13, 2021, Nigerian youths staged another protest at the Lekki Tollgate. Named #OccupyLekkiTollgate, it was to decry the reopening of the tollgate for commercial purposes while investigation by the Panel set up for the 20 October 2020 shooting incident at the tollgate has not yet produced any real result, nor have culprits been identified and prosecuted.
In one of the photos taken at the scene is a young Nigerian in the police van known as The Black Maria; his facemask is on, and from within, he looks out while gripping the bars of the van’s window like a prisoner. His crime? No one really knows. Was he a protester or a passer-by? The photograph does not say.