The Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Socialist Library and Archives in Nigeria (SOLAR) have collaborated to implement a project titled “Archiving the Legacy of Nigeria’s Pro-Democracy Activism”. The project, which is sponsored by the French Institute Research in Africa (IFRA), aims to preserve and digitize the historical materials and documents related to the struggle for democracy and socialism in Nigeria. The project was officially launched at a one-day workshop in Abuja on Friday, December 8. At the event, Dr. Saheed Husaini, a research fellow at CDD, explained the significance and benefits of the project for Nigeria’s democracy. He said that the project would help citizens learn their history and appreciate the sacrifices and achievements of the pro-democracy activists, as well as gain practical lessons on how to deepen and defend democracy in the current context of regional challenges. He also said that the project would create a website where citizens can access and explore the materials and listen to interviews from the activists.
According to the project Team, SOLAR is an institution that has collected and preserved a lot of books, letters, minutes, and other organizational materials that pertain to the pro-democracy and socialist movement in Nigeria. Dr. Husaini said that the project would support SOLAR to save and digitize some of these materials and make them available for future generations. He said that the project is not only for Nigerians who are alive currently, but also for those Nigerians in the future who would want to learn from the past.
Another key partner of the project is the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), based in the University of Ibadan. The Director of IFRA, Barbara Morovich, spoke on the impact of archiving pro-democracy in Nigeria. She said that it was very important for supporting Nigeria’s democratic journey and that the initiative was absolutely crucial for the realization of a more democratic Nigerian state. She also stressed the importance of understanding that history was a very complex thing, and it was important to mainstream it so that people do not forget the major achievements from the past. The IFRA Director stressed that the project wanted to show that the complexity of the history was the complexity of the pro-democracy and the freedom fighters who were there in the history for a long time and that this was very important to understand for the young generations as well.
The IFRA helmswoman similarly gave some advice to the younger generation in terms of leveraging on the platform or using this project. She said that the suggestion was for themselves, meaning CDD, SOLAR, and all their partners, to put it accessible, meaning a matter of accessibility while spreading it and also dissemination. She said that the young generation knew perfectly how to go to the internet to find things, but those things must be accessible. She also made the point that democracy was a matter of citizenship and that unfortunately in many states, not only African states, they were democracies, which existed just in name. According to her, in reality, the people were kept in ignorance and the people were not heard as far as the democratic process is concerned. She said that for her the initiative was to bring the history of democracy to the people and also to let them express themselves about democracy. She said that the democratic states must allow people to speak loud.
The project also involves the French Service for Cooperation and Cultural Action (FSP), which is the funding agency from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
