Nigerians have signed a petition against German author, Trish Lorenz, who claimed that she formed the word “Soro Soke generation” to describe Nigerian youths.
The author, who wrote a book titled ‘Soro Soke’ had said in an interview, “This cohort exhibits a confident outspokenness and a tendency for creative disruption, leading me to name them the Soro Soke generation.”
But over 500 Nigerians have signed a petition for the author to remove ‘Soro Soke’ from her publication, stating that she had no right to claim ownership of the phrase, which meant “Speak up” in Yoruba language.
The petition was titled, ‘Recall ‘Soro Soke’ from Publication- Author cannot CO-OPT and steal a Nigerian Movement!’
It partly read, “Soro Soke means Speak Up/ Do not be Silent in the Yoruba language of West Africa. It was a cry, a battle chant, a movement used in the #EndSARS campaign by Nigerian protesters fighting against police brutality from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in October of 2020.
“The phrase indicated that the Nigerian people would no longer put up with bad governance and they would speak out boldly. Protests and community gatherings were held to “Soro Soke” (Speak out)
“Unfortunately, in the course of the protests, the authorities responded with the military and over 50 Nigerians’ lives were lost. Many protesters and activists are still in jail, some in exile. Nigerians have not recovered from the aftermath.
“In all of this, Trish Lorenz, a white woman from Germany, decides to expropriate and abuse the name of the struggle reminiscent of the actions of her ancestors in the berlin conference of 1884/5.”
The petition described Lorenz’s book as “intellectual property theft and gross disrespect to Nigerians,” thereby calling for the end to its publishing processes.
Signees of the petition also demanded a public and written apology to Nigerians from the author, as they also asked that the platform where she conducted the interview, Crassh, take down their story or retract the author’s false statements.
At the time of filing this report, about 55 persons have signed the petition, which is hoped to reach 1,000 signatures.
Speaking on the development, Yemi Adamolekun, the Executive Director of Enough is Enough, a youth advocacy group, noted that white females are given more preference in publishing about African history.
“If you want to write a book about such an epic moment in history, why is it that it is the white woman that gets to write the book? They can’t get a Nigerian to write the book?” Adamolekun questioned.
Lorenz claiming that she coined the phrase in an interview, however, has triggered youths concerning the publication, Adamolekun noted.
The advocate further stated that even if the interviewer misquoted Lorenz, no word has been received from the author or the publisher refuting the claims.
She said, “It is now a couple of days and I have not seen a statement from her or from the Cambridge University Press correcting that. That is pretty significant, even if she didn’t say it inside the book. It also speaks of the fact that we (as Nigerians) need to be deliberate about telling our stories.”
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