Controversial social media critic and activist, Martin Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has announced the launch of a new civic initiative under the banner of the Ratel Movement, aimed at tackling environmental decay and promoting patriotism among Nigerian youths.
In a video shared on Facebook on Wednesday, VeryDarkMan declared that beginning from Saturday, November 29, 2025, and on every last Saturday of subsequent months, members of the Ratel Movement will carry out community service projects across Nigeria.
LEADERSHIP reports that Ratel Movement is an informal group of VeryDarkMan’s followers on social media.
The activist, therefore, said the initiative was to move his followers away from social media advocacy to physical impact in communities.
“Starting from the 29th of November, 2025, which will be on a Saturday, we the Ratel Movement are taking over Nigeria, we are shutting down this country,” he said.
“That being said, we are not shutting down in terms of violence, we are shutting it down in terms of impact.”
VeryDarkMan explained that the activities will include cleaning up public spaces, clearing drainages, rehabilitating school facilities, and other grassroots community services.
“We are going to start what has never been seen before in Nigeria. We are going to be moving from just being on social media claiming to be Ratels to presenting ourselves in real life and impacting our society,” he said.
According to him, the first exercise will cover all 36 States of the federation, as well as multiple communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
“Starting from November, every last Saturday of every month, the Ratels will be coming out to do community service—clearing drainages, cleaning public schools, areas filled with trash will be cleared in all 26 states. In Abuja, we will do it in Gwarinpa, Maraba, Nyanya, Kubwa, Lugbe; all the places that are dirty will be cleaned,” he said.
VeryDarkMan stressed that the vision was not just about cleaning but also about instilling civic values among young people.
“We want to promote patriotism in the hearts of the youth. We are not going to limit the problems of Nigeria solely to politicians. Yes, politicians also have theirs, but we (youth) also have to contribute.”
He recalled how the inspiration came to him one day while crossing the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
“The day I got this inspiration is the day that I was coming to Third Mainland Bridge and someone was pooing there. People were passing by because we lack patriotism in Nigeria, in Africa,” he narrated in pidgin.
The initiative, he added, will go beyond waste disposal to inculcation of civic responsibilities.
“We will clean dirty areas, paint school boards, fix broken chairs, patch potholes—a lot of things that we can lay our hands on will be done,” he added.
VeryDarkMan also shared a phone number in the video for interested youths to join the Movement, indicating their locations.
Acknowledging the challenges ahead, he nevertheless expressed optimism about the movement’s resolve.
“It won’t be easy, but we will do it. The Ratels can also say, ‘this is what we do in the country.’ We may fail, but we won’t stop. We will definitely do it 100%.”
He emphasised that the Ratel Movement was strictly non-political.
“Political things are not welcomed within our midst. Individually, you can support any political party, but when we are together, we will not welcome any political discussions. Because it is when politics comes that problems begin, followed by tribalism. We are not like that; we are just patriotic Nigerians,” VeryDarkMan declared.
