Several actions have been employed by citizens or employees in making their voice heard by either the government or employer. However, the effectiveness of the kind of action employed is dependent on a lot of factors. Hence, it has been a bit difficult in figuring out the best kind of action amongst others. To answer this week's question, I would like to focus on the challenges facing my dear country, Nigeria and some of the actions employed by its citizens towards letting their voice out.
The so many challenges facing Nigeria today didn't just start in our generation — our fathers and forefathers have faced the same challenges and employed actions such as strike, protest, etc., they only yielded no/short-term results. For instance, the famous discord between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been ongoing for a while now and the employment of strike by the union hasn't really provided a lasting solution to the problem. Instead the government only calls them to the table where they will make promises and reach an agreement that by calling the strike off, they would work towards implementing the agreement. Afterwards, they normally fail to implement the agreement, hence a reason for another strike by the union in no time.
Another action that I think has failed us here in Nigeria is protest. We are currently under a government that got to office literally through protest but now see protesters as coup planners and don't think twice before shooting them — this is best illustrated by the famous event of the #EndSARS protest. Or the police won't hesitate to use tear gas in scattering the protest, or even arresting the protesters and charging them with unbelievable charges. Once the fear is instigated in the protesters, they won't be able to continue with the protest. Which implies the end of their cries.
Thirdly, the use of petition hasn't been of much help too. One thing I like about writing petitions is that you write to bodies beyond the control of the government. Bodies like ICC (International criminal court), EU and UN. However the effectiveness of petitions to these bodies depends on what they stand to gain in what is going on. If they stand to benefit from the actions of the government, they will give a deed ear to the petitions. But if there is nothing to gain from the actions of the government, they make initial moves — which will later yield nothing.
Though it's hard to say this or that action is the best kind of action, I think there's this particular action employed by the youths that has brought significant changes in Nigeria even though it has not been long employed like other aforementioned actions. The actions of public sensitization by most of the social influencers/ skit makers. The skit makers often convey their messages from their 4-5 minutes comedy videos. These people have thousands (if not millions) of followers that go to their pages daily and listen to what they have to say. The influence of this action has been so visible among the youths over here in Nigeria.