Digital media, popular culture and social activism amongst urban youth in Nigeria

Abstract

Focusing on Nigeria, this paper explores the efforts of an online youth leadership programme, Days of Change, which succeeded in galvanising, uniting, and engaging Nigerian youth both online and offline, across social, class, and ethnic divides concerning nation building. The paper provides a unique example of the ways in which online media have become veritable sites of popular urban youth cultures, from which young people negotiate the unstable landscape of post-coloniality that the African state has foisted on its vulnerable youth population. More importantly, the paper seeks to lay the groundwork for further theorisations on how social media can be utilised as a vehicle for anti-colonial youth engagement Africa.

Cet article se concentre sur le Nigéria, et explore les efforts d'un programme de leadership des jeunes en ligne - Days of Change - qui a réussi à galvaniser, unir et engager les jeunes nigérians à la fois en ligne et hors ligne, à travers les clivages sociaux, de classe et ethniques relatifs à la construction de la nation. L'article fournit un exemple unique de la manière dont les médias en ligne sont devenus de véritables sites de cultures populaires de jeunes urbains, à partir desquels les jeunes négocient le paysage instable de la post-colonialité que l'État africain a imposé à sa population de jeunes vulnérables. Plus important encore, le document cherche à jeter les bases de nouvelles théorisations sur la manière dont les médias sociaux peuvent être utilisés comme vecteur d'engagement anticolonial des jeunes en Afrique.

Keywords:

• digital media
• social activism in Africa
• popular culture
• Nigerian youth
• social media for social change
• decolonization

Mots clés:

• Médias numériques
• activisme social en Afrique
• culture populaire
• jeunesse nigérienne
• médias sociaux pour le changement social
• décolonisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of Ethics

The research was conducted with approval from University of Toronto. My participations, observations and interviews were based on the full interest and consents of the children and their parents which I obtained through extended stays and interactions with the people in the villages. All interviewees have been anonymised and gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. At the time this study was conducted, University of Toronto did not require ethical approval to be sought for this type of research.

Notes

1 Chizoba Imoka. Journey to Being a Doctor. Chizoba Imoka.com. https://www.chizobaimoka.com/about

2 Oxfam International. Nigeria: Extreme Inequalities in Numbers. https://www.oxfam.org/en/nigeria-extreme-inequality-numbers