Zahra Cathra
Primarily, twitter provided a platform for interaction, generating general public consensus about the issue of targeted violence. From this it became a springboard for organisation, collaboration and coordination. The power of networks are highlighted because it is through the realignment of actors, that resources can become available to those who are usually powerless. In retrospect, the series of events also provide insight into the aspects of popular culture that are merging into civic culture to form civil society. The hosting of large audiences facilitates exposure to diverse interaction and information, for those who have little opportunity in day to day life. Social media provides a place in which people can recrate their individual and collective identity, and are made to take accountability for their activity within public space. These are the kind of civic acts that have been missing from the Nigerian sphere. Therefore, the End SARS protests provide a case study from which analysis can be drawn about the state of the Nigerian political landscape; this dissertation uncovers how contemporary youth culture, as is exercised on twitter, could be the foundation for a fundamental reconstruction of the socio-spatial economy, in favour or a radically inclusive democracy.
Democratising Public Space:
Networked Youth Activism and the Movement against Targeted Violence in Nigeria
In October 2020, Nigerian youth staged the biggest protest the country has seen for decades. The events were sparked by a tweet that went viral, documenting SARS officers murdering a young man and driving away with his car. The SARS unit is the Special Anti-Robbery unit of the police force, created in 1992 to combat violent crimes. However, this group have developed a reputation for extrajudicial killings, torture and extortion. This situation is symptomatic of the oppressive and exploitative attitudes that permeate the spatial and political economies. Through the mechanisms of place making, people form a collective system which can either be manipulated for public good or bad. Whereas regimes can never be explicitly classified as good or bad, they will exhibit either democratising or de-democratising behaviour. This emphasizes the role of ‘democracy’ as a process by which people are given increased autonomy within an organised society. The democracies that have existed in Nigeria since 1999 have failed to secure generational equality in democratic quality, thus non-performative acts of citizenship are few and far in-between. This is changing with the internet age, people are finding new ways to form civic communities. Twitter, a platform that facilitates the mass circulation of text and visual information, is redefining contemporary culture, and therefore creating new opportunities for networked activism. For example, the offline and online END SARS protests can be considered evidence of democratisation.
Networked Youth Activism and the Movement against Targeted Violence in Nigeria
In October 2020, Nigerian youth staged the biggest protest the country has seen for decades. The events were sparked by a tweet that went viral, documenting SARS officers murdering a young man and driving away with his car. The SARS unit is the Special Anti-Robbery unit of the police force, created in 1992 to combat violent crimes. However, this group have developed a reputation for extrajudicial killings, torture and extortion. This situation is symptomatic of the oppressive and exploitative attitudes that permeate the spatial and political economies. Through the mechanisms of place making, people form a collective system which can either be manipulated for public good or bad. Whereas regimes can never be explicitly classified as good or bad, they will exhibit either democratising or de-democratising behaviour. This emphasizes the role of ‘democracy’ as a process by which people are given increased autonomy within an organised society. The democracies that have existed in Nigeria since 1999 have failed to secure generational equality in democratic quality, thus non-performative acts of citizenship are few and far in-between. This is changing with the internet age, people are finding new ways to form civic communities. Twitter, a platform that facilitates the mass circulation of text and visual information, is redefining contemporary culture, and therefore creating new opportunities for networked activism. For example, the offline and online END SARS protests can be considered evidence of democratisation.