Beyond victim label: Nigerians turn stage into  declaration of dignity at World Social Forum

What began as a drama performance at the World Social Forum in Cotonou ended with something far more powerful than applause.

The audience rose to its feet.

For a group of Nigerians whose lives have been shaped by migration, return, survival and the struggle to rebuild, the standing ovation was not merely recognition of a theatrical performance. It was an acknowledgment of a message that demanded to be heard: survivors and returnees are not merely stories to be told. They are experts, leaders and essential voices in shaping the solutions that affect their lives.

The drama confronted one of the most persistent stereotypes surrounding migrants and survivors — the assumption that vulnerability defines them.

It does not.

Through creative expression, the Nigerian performers challenged institutions, organisations and other actors who have historically spoken for returnees and survivors while relegating them to the margins of decision-making.

Their message was uncompromising: do not invite us merely to tell our stories. Invite us to the table.

Turning lived experience into expertise

For Ejike, the performance was a deliberate protest against the different groups that have neglected or relegated returnees and survivors.

But it was also an educational moment.

The drama challenged the audience to rethink how they relate to survivors — not simply as beneficiaries of interventions, but as people whose lived experiences have given them knowledge that cannot be acquired from reports, statistics or policy documents alone.

“We possess expertise through lived experience,” was at the heart of the message.

Even the performers’ T-shirts became part of the protest. The inscriptions ridiculed the labels that society and institutions have placed on survivors and returnees, turning those labels back on themselves and declaring that the people who once carried them now understand their own realities differently.

The invitation was clear: work with us beyond storytelling. Recognise us as experts because we have lived the experience.

Breaking the stereotype of vulnerability

Esther captured another central theme of the performance: the rejection of the idea that survivors are permanently vulnerable and therefore incapable of leadership.

The drama confronted victim-blaming and the tendency to see migrants primarily through the lens of what happened to them.

But an experience of exploitation, displacement, irregular migration or survival does not erase a person’s talents, intelligence or leadership capacity.

Instead, the performers argued, those experiences can become an asset.

Their knowledge is grounded in reality. Their perspectives are informed by what policies and programmes often attempt to address from a distance.

Experience is not a weakness. It is expertise.

“Nothing about us without us”

Chylian’s reflection on the drama sharpened the performance’s most provocative challenge: who gets to define the conversation about migrants?

The performers rejected the power dynamics that reduce migrants’ lived experiences to compelling stories while excluding them from the spaces where decisions are made.

Storytelling, they argued, cannot substitute for genuine participation.

That distinction is crucial.

A survivor can be invited to a conference, given a microphone and asked to recount a painful journey — yet still have no meaningful influence over the programme, policy or intervention being discussed.

The Nigerian performers challenged precisely this kind of tokenistic inclusion.

Their message was simple: we reject inclusion into spaces created in our name without us.

“We wear the shoes and know where it hurts most.”

Therefore, they want more than sympathy. They want space to define their demands, participate in decision-making and determine what meaningful solidarity should look like.

Reintegration must restore dignity

For Blessing, the drama also confronted the meaning of reintegration.

Returning home should never mean surrendering one’s rights, freedom or dignity.

True reintegration, the performers argued, must involve informed choices, respect, family connections, psychosocial support and opportunities that reflect what survivors actually want — rather than programmes designed for them without their voices.

This is where the performance moved beyond theatre and became an advocacy statement.

Reintegration is not simply bringing someone back home.

It is about creating the conditions for that person to rebuild a life with dignity and on their own terms.

And that cannot happen when survivors are treated merely as recipients of assistance.

Their voices must be at the centre.

The standing ovation was a message too

When the performance ended and participants from across the world rose in applause, the moment carried significance beyond the success of the Nigerian performers.

The standing ovation suggested that the message had crossed borders.

On a stage in Cotonou, the performers had challenged an entire system of thinking: the belief that those who have suffered should remain confined to the identity of victims; the belief that professionals and institutions always know better; and the belief that telling a survivor’s story is equivalent to giving that survivor a voice.

The Nigerians offered a different vision.

One in which survivors are not defined by their wounds.

One in which returnees are not reduced to statistics.

One in which lived experience is recognised as a legitimate form of expertise.

One in which leadership is not reserved for those who have never walked the difficult paths being discussed.

And one in which the people most affected by migration policies and reintegration programmes have a decisive role in shaping them.

The performance therefore left the audience with a question that cannot easily be dismissed:

If decisions are being made about us, why shouldn’t we be the ones helping to make them?

The answer from the Nigerian performers was unmistakable.

Nothing about us without us.

Beyond the victim label is a human being with skills, knowledge, talent, aspirations and the capacity to lead.

Beyond the story is an expert.

Beyond survival is possibility.

And beyond the applause is a demand for meaningful participation.