Understanding The Influence of Twitter On Nigerian Youths During The ENDSARS Protest by Ofure Amenkhienan

Understanding the influence of Twitter on Nigerian Youths
during the ENDSARS Protest

by
Ofure Amenkhienan
A Dissertation
Submitted to Faculty of Arts and Humanities,
School of Media and Performing Arts
Coventry University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Communications, Culture and Media
December 2021.
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Ofure Amenkhienan Dissertation
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank God my maker and my helper in all things. Without him,
nothing will exist.
Secondly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Simon Hewitt, for all the support and
guidance he gave to me through the course of this paper.
Thirdly, I would like to thank all the faculty members of my module, who taught me and
provided the necessary materials for this paper to come to fruition.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family, who gave me the best support and
advice I needed to get to the finish line.
Thank you, everyone.
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Abstract
In the present age, the use of social media has become wild and uncontrolled in the country of
Nigeria, most especially with the youthful populace. More as of late social media has been
utilized as a stage, by numerous Nigerian residents, as a way to voice their disappointment
with the government. A critical outline of social media activism, using Twitter as a context-
oriented examination, is the ENDSARS battle that occurred in October 2020. Key
government performers have made later, high-profile requires the guideline of social media
observing the #EndSARS battles. Two days after Twitter took action to dispose of President
Muhammadu Buhari's tweet on June second, 2021, the Nigerian Ministry of Information and
Culture conveyed a declaration on Twitter announcing the perpetual suspension of Twitter in
the country. With the end goal for us to understand the motivation behind why Twitter has
been expressly centred around, there is a need to see the stages of socio-political occupation
in Nigeria recently. The target of this research is to exhibit how compelling Twitter was for
Nigerian youths and what that meant for the connection between the general population and
the state.
I required secondary and primary data through deals with social media posts, around articles
on social media guidelines and occasions that had made this choice to be reached by the
Nigerian Government. I picked Qualitative research as my procedure for research. The
approach I used for this research was Ethnographic research and Phenomenological research.
My research was mainly based on the Nigerian youths between the ages of 18-35, who
successfully participated in the Endsars protest on Twitter. The system for data analysis that
was utilized for this research was discourse analysis.
In light of what was scrutinized and separated, through Twitter, the Nigerian youths who
participated in the Endsars protest showed affectivity and have made clear the power of
online media, particularly Twitter, in working with the party of people around an issue. we
can likewise see a lot of activities and responses shown from the Nigerian government's side.
The results of the research met my suspicion that Twitter was the best social media stage
during the Endsars protest.
All in all, Twitter was uncommonly effective during the Endsars protest for the Nigerian
youths as shown in the results, due to the real utilization of the social media stage by the
individuals. Shown from the results and the following discussion, unmistakably the
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utilization and effect of Twitter use by the Nigerian youth during the Endsars protest
staggeringly affected the government's decision to control social media in hast.
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Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Literature review..................................................................................................................................... 9
Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................... 10
Methodology......................................................................................................................................... 14
Results ................................................................................................................................................... 17
Discussion.............................................................................................................................................. 23
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 28
Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 30
References ............................................................................................................................................ 32
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Introduction
In modern years, the utilization of social media has become wild and rampant in the nation of
Nigeria, most particularly with the young populace. The rise of more current and better
gadgets, being updated by the different organizations like Apple Inc. also, Samsung, gives
simpler admittance to social media platforms utilizing telephones and PCs and has
incomprehensibly expanded the simple access that young individuals need to different social
media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, accordingly, expanding the impact
that social media has on Nigerian adolescents. A great representation of such social media
stage is Twitter. Twitter is a 'microblogging' social media website that permits you to send
and get short posts called tweets (UKRI, 2021). However, more recently social media has
been used as a platform, by many Nigerian citizens, as a means to voice their dissatisfaction
with the government.
Free activists the world over are utilizing the internet and digital apparatuses to assemble
their local area, interface with other comparable learning individuals outside their actual
environmental elements just as the entryway, raise reserves and arrange occasions. Digital
activism is the place where digital devices (the internet, cell phones, social media and so on)
are utilized for achieving social and additionally political change. Micro-blogging sites, for
example, Twitter are utilized to assist with spreading attention to an issue or activist occasion.
Twitter's hashtag work, which permits individuals to have their tweets add to a multi-client
discussion by composing a watchword or expression went before by a hashtag, is utilized
now and again as a digital device for spreading a message. Other gigantic developments to hit
the standard, for example, #metoo, #blacklivesmatter and #fridaysforfuture utilized the
hashtag to spread an idea quickly throughout the planet utilizing social media as an
instrument for obstruction and interruption. A relevant illustration of this is the monstrous
upswell in the utilization of #BlackLivesMatter to spur and join a worldwide development
against police viciousness, and all the more extensively, the continuous test of fundamental
bigotry, following the killing of George Floyd on May 26th, 2020. After the film of the
treachery was shared on social media, it immediately spread, eventually inducing anti-racism
exhibitions in more than 60 nations around the world. Covering with the Covid pandemic,
this most recent stage in the Black Lives Matter social development came when individuals
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were depending on digital apparatuses like never before to do their everyday lives - and some
were incapable to pass on their homes to dissent face to face (Rees, 2020).
A significant illustration of social media activism, utilizing Twitter as contextual analysis, is

the ENDSARS fight that happened in October 2020. Nigeria was grasped by far and wide
#EndSARS fights to require an end to police brutality, especially the disbandment of a
maverick police unit. This examination does discussion-depth data on the police brutality and
psychological warfare by a police branch called SARS, which has been influencing young
individuals in the nation of Nigeria, and the activity was taken by the public authority that
hasn't advanced the circumstance. With a huge number of young Nigerians taking an interest
in showings which initially started as an online campaign, it denoted the biggest public fights
in an age in Africa’s most populous country. Given the key role played by young individuals,
it was difficult to miss how digital devices on their cell phones, particularly social media
platforms including Twitter, were utilized to drive, put together, and support the fights
(Kazeem, 2020).
As far as concerns, the Nigerian government professes to be focused on tolerating protesters

requests for responsibility and equity. However, the public authority additionally seems quick
to proactively sabotage the chance of future fights by focusing on social media and online
articulation. For sure, key government entertainers, from the minister of information to a pile
of state lead representatives, have made later, high-profile calls for the regulation of social
media following the #EndSARS fights. The common reasoning for these calls rotates around
halting the spread of phoney news reports that the public authority says might weaken the
country (Kazeem, 2020). Two days after Twitter made a move to eliminate President
Muhammadu Buhari's tweet, the Nigerian Ministry of Information and Culture delivered an
assertion on Twitter (curiously) reporting the endless suspension of Twitter in the country.
On 2 June, Twitter had brought down a post by Buhari and suspended his record for 12 hours,
referring to an infraction of its harmful conduct policy. In the post, Buhari alluded to the
annihilation of government offices in the nation, connecting this with the Nigeria-Biafra War
of 1967-70. He likewise took steps to manage that misbehaving in the language they
understand. Reports show that Facebook likewise erased a comparable post on Buhari's page
for abusing its Community Standard. Notwithstanding this, Facebook has not been
prohibited. There are ideas that Facebook was saved altogether not to make the connection
between the boycott and the post erasure unequivocally self-evident. Be that as it may, to
understand the reason why Twitter has been explicitly focused on, there is a need to perceive
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the platforms socio-political job in Nigeria lately. Generally, the government's outrage had
been working against Twitter since the #EndSARS cross country youth-led protests where the
stage worked as the essential medium used to channel anti-establishment rhetoric (Obia,
Twitter versus Government of Nigeria: Power, securitisation and the politics of a social
media ban, 2021).
Through the course of this research, some questions that are set to be answered are:
• How effective was Twitter during the Endsars protest for Nigerian youths? Why was
Twitter the most effective social media platform for the Endsars protests for Nigerian
Youths?
• What strategies were employed among Nigerian youths using Twitter that assisted the
protest?
• What strategies were utilized by the government to regulate Social Media due to the
Endsars protest that occurred and how effective has it been?
• How has twitter’s utilization and influence on Nigerian Youths, during the Endsars
protest, affected the Government’s decision to regulate social media?
During the course of this research, I will:
• Conduct collection of social media posts/tweets by young protesters from Twitter,

using advanced search with the hashtag, #EndSars, to gain insight and data on their
perspective and actions during the event.
• Collecting newspaper articles and journals on the event that occurred to determine the
reactions and the association to the tweets shared by the young protesters.
A short overview of the paper incorporates, The Literature review/Theoretical framework

which examines a study of existing exploration on the subject, fostering a cognizant design
and contention that prompts a reasonable premise or avocation for the own methodology that
will be used. The methodology part portrays precisely how the information will be gathered
and investigated. The results segment is the place where the rundown of the discoveries of the
exploration will be found. The results will be accounted for compactly and unbiasedly,
without deciphering their importance. The discussion part is the place where we dive into the
importance and pertinence of the results. The conclusion is the last piece of the principal text.
Its where the, summing up of the fundamental discoveries and proposals are found.
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Literature review
In the 21st Century, the time of social media emerged conveying with it a lot of discussions
on its use to society, both their sensations of fear and their certainty. There is a need to look
at why they have offered these articulations just as how the message is being passed across.
Thusly, on account of social media regulation in Nigeria, there is a need to significantly take
apart media messages and posts concerning the situation in the country, the occupation of
online activisms and the public power. There is no question that Twitter profoundly affects
the normal Nigerian youth, notwithstanding, that comprehension has now been made clear by
the enormous Endsars fight that happened in October 2020. The occasion that might have
introduced another period of severe social media regulation by the Nigerian government was
achieved by this new agreement, and this research inspects the affectivity brought about by
this.
By researching for significant subjects like social media regulation, social media activism in
Nigeria, credible scholarly sites, I've had the option to journal articles concerning the points.
In Samuel Olaniran's, from the University of Jos, Nigeria, paper, he talks about social media
and correspondence designs among their students, utilizing the University of Jos' students
Twitter use as a contextual investigation. He talks about how the innovation of the web
carried another aspect to the media scene. It denoted the start of innovative change and
socialization with a higher longing for data about everything (Olaniran, 2014). He discusses
the effect of social networking sites like Twitter and how it has turned into a significant spot
where students contribute time and exertion for information, amusement, and different things.
“Twitter, like other social networking sites, has become an important place where youths
invest their time and search for entertainment, knowledge, meaning identity, and friendship.”
(Olaniran, 2014). At long last, he reasons that Twitter has taken the course of data assembling
and sharing, socialization and learning by the students to a higher stage subsequently making
the site more than a simple intuitive social networking site (Olaniran, 2014).
In Dambo, Ersoy, Auwal, Olorunsola and Saydam's paper on the Twitter activities during the
Endsars protest, they check out how social networking administrations have given better
approaches to networks to transform from the underlying impediments that are set up. They
examine how the Black lives matter protests show, people are reevaluating mankind by
investigating better approaches to uncover and battle bad form. It is conjectured that SNSs
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give new pathways to society to be restored by offering new ways to change networks that
are as yet hampered by primary obstructions (Dambo, Ersoy, Auwal, Oorunsola, & Saydam,
2021). Their research had two main objectives which were “who are the influencers of the
#EndSARS campaign on Twitter on the night of the Lekki shooting and what is their
significance within the network? What are the manifestations and expressions of grievance in
the #EndSARS protests on the night of the Lekki shooting?” (Dambo, Ersoy, Auwal,
Oorunsola, & Saydam, 2021). Hence, what was found was that Nigeria's president and Lagos
state governor positioned high on this rundown as a progression of organizational activities
from numerous users were coordinated to their record, Similarly, the United Nations and
BBC client accounts are additionally compelling inside and outside the organization
structure. Different users inside this design likewise employ impact dependent on their
predictable utilization of Twitter for activism, and that Nigerians in the diaspora are a
significant armoury for Nigerian protesters as they can be instrumental in causing worldwide
to notice issues concerning Nigeria's youth. This is reliable with past research on activism in
Nigeria (Dambo, Ersoy, Auwal, Oorunsola, & Saydam, 2021).
In Ononogbu and Chiroma's paper, they talk about the impacts of social media's effect on the
Christian standards and upsides of the normal Nigerian youth. In this paper, the creators for
the most part investigate the antagonistic effect that social media has had on youngsters in
Nigeria in understanding youth service, for instance, “the loss of interpersonal skills, the
imposing nature of social media is destroying individual identity and self-esteem, and with
the loss of interpersonal skills and with little or no self-esteem, the slide into promiscuity and
crime appears to be inevitable” (Ononogbu & Chiroma, 2018). By and large, these papers
examine different concerning themes that deal with the relationship and effect between social
media, Twitter particularly, and youngsters that essentially live in Nigeria.
Theoretical Framework
Public Sphere
The public sphere is an idea made in the eighteenth century and further created by Jürgen
Habermas, who expressed that the public sphere was described by its basic nature in
contraposition to the agent idea of the medieval framework. As indicated by Hauser (1988), it
is a verbose spot where individuals can trade their perspectives to make a typical judgment. It
is intriguing to note anyway that the chance of arriving at bigger quantities of people permit
web clients to make ties that would have been hard to keep up with without the new
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instrument, and these ties make organizations, a famous word these days. In any case, how is
our general public impacted by networks? (Neal, 2012)
A nearby glance at the Public Sphere can assist with unwinding the ramifications of social
media activism and the idea of its inclusivity. This perusing digs into the possibility of the
public sphere as one where residents meet up as a local area deprived of their financial
matters and liberated from compulsion. A fruitful public sphere is one in which there is
incredible access. A space that holds more assorted points of view and voices, is a more
fruitful public space. Twitter is promoted as a public space in that its clients can get to tweets
and read them whether or not they have a record. Making a record and jumping into the
public conversation just requires web access and an email address. This thought of the public
space and the worth of social activism on Twitter is convoluted by the possibility that public
spaces frequently avoid enormous parts of the populace. There are public spaces that are just
available by a few. At close assessment, one can perceive how Twitter is an illustration of
this. Just those equipped for getting to Twitter utilizing the web can take part in the activism
(Mehra, 2017).
Panoptic Surveillance
The possibility of panoptic surveillance was created by the French scholar Michel Foucault in
1975 by surveying the panoptic as an image of the disciplinary society of surveillance.
Panoptic surveillance can be perceived as a condition of steady observation. Here, the one is
noticing is decentralized and the individuals who are being noticed are never
straightforwardly spoken with. It is gotten from the term panopticism (SOCIOLOGY
GROUP, n.d.).
Panopticism alludes to a social hypothesis named after the Panopticon which is an

institutional structure, or a building construction of a jail intended to expand surveillance. It is
an arrangement of control planned by Jeremy Bentham, an English scholar, and social
scholar. It is a roundabout structure with cells incorporated into the round dividers with an
observational pinnacle in the middle. Each cell can be watched from the observational
pinnacle and thus, the pinnacle can likewise be seen from each cell. Notwithstanding,
individuals dwelling in the cells couldn't see anything inside the observational pinnacle
because of shades and blinds. This made them uncertain in case they are being watched or not
and along these lines caused them to manage their lead constantly. Bentham accepted that the
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dread of being noticed constantly was sufficient to keep the detainees inline (SOCIOLOGY
GROUP, n.d.).
As indicated by Foucault, these proportions of surveillance would serve in extending power.

He further adds that by naming mysterious individuals in the public help presents on order
the focal point of this engineering of surveillance, a disciplinary component of perception can
be decentered which will bring about delivering more alluring and productive results which
demonstrate that panoptic surveillance rather than all-out surveillance is effectual
(SOCIOLOGY GROUP, n.d.).
Sousveillance
According to Mann (1998), Sousveillance is a form of “Reflectionism,” a “term invented for

the philosophy and procedures of using technology to mirror and confront bureaucratic
organizations” (Mann, Nolan, & Wellman, 2003). In their paper, they characterize
Reflectionism as a method for request in-execution that is coordinated toward uncovering the
panopticon and undermining its supremacy and advantage and moving the relationship of the
surveillance society inside the idea of a more conventional normal of discernibleness (Mann,
Nolan, & Wellman, 2003). The idea of sousveillance can be regarding genuinely moving a
camera to a lower level, or comparable to hierarchy, by ordinary residents watching those in
places of force or authority. “Sousveillance has come to represent a challenge against the
rising occurrence of digital surveillance and allows for a policing of the ‘police’” (Shepherd,
2015).
Sousveillance has become more inescapable being used and has tremendous ramifications on
cultural and social issues, most as of late starting a discussion around the treatment of African
Americans by law enforcement, and the utilization of power by authorities. Various examples
have now happened where individuals from the general population have shot captures which
have set consideration on the conduct and activities of law authorization, at times, in any
event, bringing about those officials losing their positions. The act of sousveillance has been
fueled by admittance to cameras in cell phones, which means nearly everybody in the western
world has the devices to sousveil at arm’s reach any place they go (Shepherd, 2015).
Affectivity
What is affect? Is it an idea, a hypothesis, a philosophy, or a worldview? Affect has been

characterized unexpectedly, and surprisingly problematic. As per Hemmings (2005), a few
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theorizations of affect guarantee to go past implication to conjecture another metaphysics
outside culture and the social; settle the halt or impasse of current poststructuralist
hypothesis; offers affective opportunity as the option in contrast to social determinism and
takes the body and encapsulation back to the social and social hypothesis (Yin Li, 2015).
Affect theory is a way to deal with culture, history, and governmental issues that put a
spotlight on the job of prelinguistic or nonlinguistic powers or affects. Affects make us what
we are, however, they are neither under our cognizant control nor even fundamentally inside
the register of our mindfulness and they can just now and again be caught in language. Affect
theory sees power in similar terms. As anthropologist Kathleen Stewart composes, power is a
thing of the faculties. Rather than considering legislative issues a bunch of suggestions that
are filtered by reasonable, picking subjects, affect theory considers it to be an exhibition
(EELAWRENCE, 2016).
Everything necessary is to perceive that power is above all else what Sara Ahmed calls an
"affective economy" rather than a bunch of thoughts or etymological recommendations.
Affect theory assists us with dodging the "linguistic fallacy," the conviction that power is
essentially led by musings and language. All things considered, power as a "thing of the
senses" feels before it thinks. It is snared not to our extraordinary normal awareness, but
rather to our animality (EELAWRENCE, 2016).
Media Regulation
The expression "Media regulation" alludes to the cycle by which a scope of explicit, regularly
lawfully restricting, instruments are applied to media frameworks and organizations to
accomplish set up arrangement objectives like pluralism, variety, contest, and opportunity.
Regulation comprises the sending of formal legal guidelines set somewhere around open
specialists just as more casual implicit rules are created and carried out by media associations
related to the state. Regulation can be positive or negative in endeavouring, individually, to
elevate specific destinations or to obstruct bothersome substances (Freedman, 2015). By
controlling the web, administering gatherings can suppress dissenter movement and screen
online correspondences. Governments are then ready to expand a more noteworthy hold over
what individuals say and do, and frequently, how they vote (Open Access Government,
2019).
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Methodology
The inspiration driving my investigation is to understand the occasions that hinted at the
monstrous flood of social media regulation in Nigeria that is going on and how that has
affected the youths in the country. To start the research, there was a need to impartially
examine the social media activity by the youthful Nigerian individuals during the occasion
that happened in October 2020. To do that, I required secondary and primary data through
works on social media posts, around articles on social media regulations and events that had
settled on this decision to be reached by the Nigerian Government. This is the most sensible
methodology since it contains start to finish looks at the situation in the country directly from
legitimate sources that can be strong for data arrangement for my research.
I picked Qualitative research for my technique for research because, for there to be inside and
out and pertinent data for my research, I needed to dissect non-mathematical texts like
articles and attempt to comprehend the human encounters in the nation impacted by the social
media regulation and concoct trustworthy data that could aid the investigation of social media
regulation with regards to The Nigerian government's strategic manoeuvre. The methodology
I utilized for this research was Ethnographic research and Phenomenological research,
through the inundation of myself into the understanding the way of life of Nigeria and
examination of the occasions that had happened and how to figure out them. Ethnography
and phenomenology are two definite, qualitative research studies (Hasa, 2017). Ethnographic
research is a qualitative technique where researchers notice and additionally interface with a
review's members in their genuine climate. This is crucial for my research since it permits me
to assess and get a more profound comprehension of the data, I have assembled for my
research (Logan, n.d.). Phenomenology is concerned about the investigation of involvement
according to the viewpoint of the individual, organizing underestimated suppositions and
common methods of seeing. This methodology permits me to acquire a more profound
comprehension of the peculiarities of the Endsars protest that happened (Lester, 1999).
The utilization of Quantitative research will have delivered not exactly palatable outcomes
because mathematical numbers can't give as much inside, and out data or data required for
my research to be more pertinent, and even though my research technique probably won't
give an unmistakable or good end, it gives more setting, information, comprehension, and
pertinence to my research. This methodology will add to the comprehension of the elements
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between the state and individuals in Nigeria, to comprehend the job of social media in a
discourse between the two gatherings, the job of online activism and the far and wide social
media pundit of the Government and the ensuing social media regulation.
My research was principally centred around the Nigerian youths between the ages of 18-35,
who effectively took part in the Endsars protest on Twitter. My research highlights both
primary and secondary data, which I felt were fundamental to acquiring the outcomes I
wanted. For primary data, I utilized Twitter as my principal source. Over the span of about
fourteen days, I gathered tweets from Twitter that included the EndSARS hashtag in their
tweets, as these were fundamental bits of data for my research. All together for proper and
pertinent tweets to be gathered and broken down, the advanced inquiry button on Twitter was
used, where I looked for tweets containing the hashtag EndSARS in tweets that were made
between October 10th 2020 and October 25th, 2020. These two dates were picked as it was
between these dates that the thick and most significant tweets were made, similar to Twitter
on the Lekki Toll Gate shooting occasion that happened amidst quiet protesters in Lagos,
Nigeria. It was significant moments like these that more applicable and effective tweets, that
would be significant for my research, were made and subsequently the justification behind
reducing the research dates. For secondary data, I utilized paper articles and websites as my
principal source. I researched and gathered articles and posts on the internet, traced back to
October/November 2020, that had to do with the subject of the EndSARS protest and the
fallout, that is the occasions that happened subsequently because of the cross-country
activism, both on the web and on location. I gathered secondary data dependent on the
articles that highlighted the overall responses of general society towards the EndSARS
protests and a viewpoint of what social media activism on Twitter meant for the whole
country and, at last, the world. This research, additionally, essentially analyzed the impact it
had on the Nigerian Government that will ultimately make the President issue a request for
the immediate disbandment and neglect of Twitter in the nation, with stricter media
regulation.
The strategy for data analysis that was used for this research was discourse analysis, which
was utilized for investigating the degrees of language, design, and tone for the cooperation’s
in the data gathered. It was likewise utilized for concentrating on correspondences and
meaning according to their social setting. Discourse analysis is a sweeping term for a scope
of qualitative research approaches utilized in investigating the utilization of language in
social contexts. Researchers utilize these strategies to comprehend the world by examining
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the basic importance of what individuals say and how they say it, regardless of whether in up
close and personal discussion, records, non-verbal connection, or pictures (Delve, n.d.).
Discourse analysis is certainly not a particular qualitative research strategy; rather, it is an
overall term for depicting every one of the methodologies used to analyze and comprehend
discourses comparable to social connections. Throughout dissecting the texts and online
media posts, I utilized discourse analysis as a method in which I could recognize and reveal
the feelings and inspirations driving each text I gathered as data. With this analysis, I could
concentrate on the hidden importance in the social media posts, when thinking about the
social setting. One drawback to utilizing discourse analysis was that it was trying to pick the
most reasonable strategy for a specific setting. It was, likewise, exceptionally tedious to break
down every single social media post assembled and the articles and web journals I decide on
for my research (Delve, n.d.).
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Results
Through the course of my research and analysis, the primary data, which was gathered from
Twitter posts made during the Endsars movement by young Nigerian citizens, and the
secondary data, which are articles and blogs gathered from researchers who closely analyzed
the effects that the movement had nationally and internationally, were analyzed separately to
appropriately gather the results needed to answer the research questions.
The primary data, which was the Twitter analysis results, show the different numbers of
protesters that had utilized the hashtag EndSARS between the dates of October 10th, 2020
and October 25th, 2020.
The lamenters, sympathizers and victims of the event who are fully participating in the
protest online use Twitter as a platform to share their grievances. These were the highest
number of tweets visible with the hashtag EndSARS. Their tweets varied from those who
angrily requested for the resignation of the President to those pleading to the government for
the disbandment of the brutal police unit, SARS.
Some examples of these are a series of tweets from anonymous users who state:
• “A Government that is more interested in Ending a peaceful protest than listening to

the grievances of its citizens’ people. #EndBadGoveranceInNigeria #endsars”,
• “This protest looks to put an end to police brutality in Nigeria, and at the forefront of
their operations is a government that turns a blind eye when a life is taken unjustly.
The goal therefore - #ENDSARS, #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY. It’s clear, it’s simple.
Stay the course!”,
• “As Ghanaian, I #SideWithNigeria Youth in their fight to #EndSARS and also
#EndBadGoveranceInNigeria in their country. I encourage the peaceful, focused, a
rightful and safer manifestation of all”.
The helpers and information sharers, who used Twitter as a platform for them to share
important information concerning the protest to other online protesters like the date, time and
location are to take place, any event that occurs that may be dangerous for protesters or a safe
place for the injured and lost to find help and recover.
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• “Please RT. Lagoon hospital Ikoyi is open for wounded protesters. Ask for Dr Coker.
God heal our land.”,
• “Happening now on Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba. Thugs are attacking RRS.
#EndSARS”,
• “Location is verified. This was filmed less than 500m away from Police HQ in Abuja.
Men seen carrying melee weapons mounting a vehicle on Yakubu Gowon Crescent
amid #EndSARS”.
The businesspeople or the financial helpers, who are there to provide resources and financial
help to protesters in need. There are either those who use Twitter as a platform for them to
advertise their business as open for protesters to eat or to buy essential items or those who
raise money to provide resources to those on the ground or onsite protesting. These tweets
featured multiple retweets and replies as they were important information been passed to on-
site protesters.
• “To #SideWithNigeria to #EndSARS #EndBadGovernanceinNIGERIA

#EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria, We will be sharing browsing DATA to 50 online
protesters using MTN by 10:00 AM. Kindly follow and RETWEET this. We will
choose randomly abeg Folded hands. God Bless our commitments Raising hands”,
• “All GTBank, Zenith and Access customers using Savings Please Retweet
aggressively Turn on notification for instructions, but don't lose focus. #EndSARS”,
• “If 500 airtime/data is not too small for you!! 50 people Retweet #EndSARS Open
your dms!! Make sure you are following ****** so I can access!!!”,
• “Lagos has started work. Email: *hidden* Phone: *hidden*. (Also established a N200
million fund for compensation to victims of SARS/Police brutality and their
families).”
The key celebrity or public figures in the country were key figureheads during the course of
the protests. These young celebrities, with verified Twitter accounts used the platform to stay
connected, directly influencing young Nigerian users on Twitter. As users who have millions
of young Nigerian youths following them on Twitter, their tweets were able to reach many of
the young protesters, where they sent encouraging, informational, and revolutionary tweets,
which were retweeted in the hundreds and thousands.
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A major example of an influencer who used their platform to promote the Endsars protest is
actor, social media influencer and comedian, Debo Adedayo also known as Debo Macaroni,
username @mrmacaronii. Some examples of his tweets include:
• “Just as we wait for the government to take responsibility, we must also take
responsibility. We need to collectively coordinate our protest grounds and find a way
to quickly identify and neutralize thugs!!! We are peaceful protesters, and our aim is
not to cause chaos! #EndSARS”,
• “I agree that we should have strategic protest grounds to avoid thugs hijacking our
peaceful protests. Nigerian youths protesting should meet only on those grounds. That
way we are together, more secure, coordinated, and efficient. #EndSARS”,
• “The lives of peaceful protesters and citizens are at risk because of thugs that are
riding on this movement! Peaceful protesters are not violent!!! The honourable thing
for the government to do is to meet the demands of the Nigerian Youths! That’s all!!!
#Endsars”,
• “They are shooting at Lekki Toll gate!!! The curfew started at 4:00 pm!! Some people
have gone home but some others could not go back to their respective houses again
because of the impromptu announcement!! It’s a sit-in!! Why are they shooting???
Why???? @********* #EndSARS”.
Another major example of an influencer who used their platform to promote the Endsars
protest is rapper, songwriter, comedian and social media influencer, Folarin Falana also
known as Falz, username @falzthebahdguy. Some examples of his tweets include:
• “Peaceful protesters are being held by the police at Eleweran in #Abeokuta. Peaceful
protest is a right. We’re calling on @******* to order the immediate release of the
protesters. Our voices deserve to be heard #EndSARS”,
• “No matter what schemes they bring, let’s be united in one voice #5for5 #EndSars
#SarsMustEnd”,
• “In the light of all the thuggery we’ve seen, and the curfew imposed in Lagos state, it
is important that we all stay safe rather than lose more lives. We are still adamant
about our demands and this is just HALF TIME!! We shall be back once the curfew is
lifted #EndSars”,
19
• “Please Lagos, let’s stay home and be law-abiding. They are desperate to have
something on us, but they will NEVER succeed. This movement is bigger than all of
us! Raised fist #EndSARS”.
The analysis of the secondary data which includes blogs, articles, and journals, was shown to
have several similarities in the affectivity of Twitter on the Endsars movement. These were
the observations made as a result.
Twitter in itself, played a significant part in helping and decreasing the notoriety and
accomplishment of the Endsars protest. According to Vincent A. Obia, During the protests,
Twitter was utilized in three ways: to coordinate protests, to enhance the voice of the
campaign universally, and to censure brands and well-known people considered to be against
the movement. He asserts that without a platform like Twitter it would have been
troublesome, if certainly feasible, for protesters to spread the nation over to facilitate
themselves in profoundly coordinated and compelling ways and to channel off each other's
energy. It was very obvious to the movement's members and every other person that the CEO
of Twitter especially identified with the protester and was set to help them in any capacity
important (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in
Nigeria, 2020). According to Ohimai Amaize,
“CEO Jack Dorsey chose to recognize and mobilize donations toward one faction of
the #EndSARS movement, inadvertently amplifying its divisions. He tweeted two
links with the hashtag #EndSARS, one to a page curating stories of victims of SARS
and police brutality in Nigeria’s tech community and the other to the official website
of the Feminist Coalition—a significant endorsement for the group. Twitter
subsequently created a tight-fist emoji draped in the Nigerian flag to support the
movement” (Amaize, 2021).
He was also very instrumental in the generation of donations for those who are participating
in the protest and whose bank accounts have been frozen as a result by the Nigerian
authorities. According to Aniekan Augustine-Edet,
“During the protests, Twitter was the virtual meeting place for the youth. It was where
they organized the protests, shared information, raised awareness and delivered the
best courses of action. It was also where they encouraged one another, fed off one
another's energy and emphasized the importance of staying united and true to the
movement's objectives.” (Augustine-Edet, 2021).
20
It is very much implied that Twitter helped to amplify the movement.
The government's response to the protest was at first, positive from the beginning, with vows
to notice to the requests of the protesters. According to Ohimai Amaize, as the protests got
greater and spread to other urban communities, the Nigerian government gave in on Oct. 11,
declaring the disintegration of SARS, the special anti-robbery unit of the Nigerian Police
Force that was liable for unpredictable captures, blackmail, and extrajudicial killings. Be that
as it may, as the Nigerian youths endured and the movement developed on Twitter, they
turned out to be more negative in their responses. The responses from their assertions show
caution towards the viability of twitter's utilization on the protest by the Nigerian Youths
(Amaize, 2021). Ohimai Amaize in the same article states,
“The internal struggles of Nigeria’s main protest groups and the violent clashes
between the state and its citizens may tell us a great deal about the country’s future
and the shrinking civic space under the Buhari regime. Furthermore, it is stated that
Two days after the Oct. 20 shooting, Buhari made a nationwide broadcast in which he
made clear that any further protests would not be tolerated” (Amaize, 2021).
In Vincent A. Obia's article, he states directly following the #EndSARS movement,

notwithstanding, there have been bolder calls for regulation. The mayhem and savagery that
happened during and after the movement have been accused of social media
deception/disinformation. He further expresses that it appears to be that specialists will
presently look for ways of escalating the regulation of social media. It is indistinct whether
the current "social media bill" will be pushed through or whether another arrangement will be
drafted (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria,
2020). According to Aniekan Augustine-Edet, it has become apparent that the Nigerian
government is frantic to strip the young people of what has been demonstrated to be one of
their most impressive weapons. It turns out to be exceptionally clear what meant for they are
about the protest as it proceeds and surprisingly after it closes, displayed in the prohibiting of
Twitter use in the country in June 2021, eight months after the movement had happened
(Augustine-Edet, 2021).
The global help for the protest significantly appears to come from Twitter as the now
promoted hashtag EndSARS, appear to be utilized habitually to report more protest being
coordinated by Nigerian youths who live external the country. According to Ohimai Amaize,
the demonstrations were raised locally and abroad, as individuals from the Nigerian diaspora
21
in London, Berlin, New York, and somewhere else coordinated #EndSARS protests in
fortitude (Amaize, 2021). In Vincent A. Obia’s article, it is said that,
“On 9 October 2020, #EndSARS was the top trending hashtag in the world with over
2 million tweets, and it continuously trended in other countries including the United
States and the United Kingdom. He further states Twitter has been used by those in
the diaspora to not only comment on the #EndSARS movement but also organise
protests in cities like London, Berlin and Toronto” (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique
Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020).
This indeed acknowledges the effectiveness of the spread outside of the country through the
international support brought about by twitter’s role in spreading the movement’s hashtag
EndSARS.
22
Discussion
After examination, there are plenty of things that the results of this research tell us. The
discoveries of the research produce a ton of results from both the Twitter investigation and
that of the web-based articles and web journals. Based on what was perused and broken
down, through Twitter, the Nigerian youths who partook in the Endsars protest showed
affectivity and has made evident the force of online media, especially Twitter, in working
with the get together of individuals around an issue (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique
Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020). The beginning of the protest
started when there was a video circled of police officers shooting a man and from there on
taking off with the man's claimed vehicle. This video started a recharged wave of the Endsars
movement, which was started in 2017, that spammed from the remainder of October 2020,
into the next month. In the outcome of the video, the government had indeed vowed to
disintegrate the risky police unit, SARS, nonetheless, the Nigerian youths reviewed they, on
various events, made similar guarantees and neglected to convey, which in turn made them
further the movement more than they beforehand have. As a result of this, Twitter turned into
a circle where the Nigerian youths could unreservedly protest and spread their complaints,
promoting the movement significantly more. With this, we can see the example of affectivity
from the video to sparking the movement, from the underlying sparkle to the government and
from the reaction of the government to the blast of protest on Twitter and in the nation and, in
the end, the world. Then, at that point, at long last, we can see this affectivity again showed
from the successful utilization of Twitter as a stage for facilitating the protest, to the choice
by the government to ban Twitter.
The Nigerian youths also displayed a lot of intent and emotion. This is expected as they were
living under a government that seemed to be ignoring the cries of help and they had gotten to
their limit. When examining the tweets that were gathered one thing that most of them had in
common were the tones of anger, dissatisfaction and fear. When looking at the events that
corresponded with the dates of the tweets, one can understand the tone and emotion in the
words of the individual. Like for example: “We should keep that UNITY ENERGY from the
last two weeks! That’s only what they are afraid of from what I see! UNITY IS ALWAYS
LOUDER! #EndSARS”. With just a glance at this tweet, one can already tell the emotion
behind it. The uppercased words give out the feeling of being loud and audible, which makes
23
it seem like the person is shouting those words. They also give off the emotion of rage,
making one view this tweet as a cry from an angry Nigerian youth.
From the Nigerian youths, there was also a display of sousveillance. When examining the
contents of the tweets that were collected, there were quite a several tweets that contained an
additional hashtag which was, #EndBadGoveranceInNigeria. It's a well-known fact that the
Nigerian people are extremely disappointed with the activities of their president and
government overall. Youthful Nigerians have found and started to utilize, the power digital
media has managed the cost of them to advocate for better administration and a finish to
every one of the treacheries they endure daily (Augustine-Edet, 2021). Nonetheless, in the
Endsars protest, various members straightforwardly got down on the government authorities
that they considered liable for some dull activities to suppress the merciless activities of the
SARS police unit. A large number of the members tweeted to them, asking them to one or the
other advance down or make a move against the police unit and fulfil the protesters' request.
During this time, one might say that the activities of the government were firmly checked by
these Nigerian youths on Twitter and this social media stage was utilized as a method for
sousveillance from them to the government.
Finally, there was a display of coordination and careful planning of the protests by the
Nigerian youth with their utilization of the social media platform, Twitter. In his article, Obia
states “How #EndSARS was used provides insight into how Twitter serves as a coordinating
platform for oppositional discourse and activist campaigns in Nigeria.” (Obia, #EndSARS, a
Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020). In the results, there
were two different types of protesters on the platform that stood out. The helpers and
informers, who used Twitter as a means to assist their fellow protesters on the streets by
providing information on the activities happening on the streets and also information on
goods and products that can assist the protesters in any way. The coordination and planning
of these people on Twitter, made the movement largely successful, even preventing most
people who saw their tweets from life-threatening encounters during the protests. There were
also the businesspeople and the financial helpers who, on the social media platform, were
able to generate funds and resources for protesters that could be in need as the movement
evolved. In Vincent A. Obia’s article, it is stated that,
In terms of coordinating the protests, Twitter was actively used to share information
regarding protest venues and to update protesters on breaking news events. Indeed,
24
without a platform like Twitter, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for
protesters to spread across the country to coordinate themselves in highly organised
and effective ways and to feed off one another’s energy (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique
Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020).
This strategic move helped and strengthen a lot of Nigerian youths on the ground as they had
a support system they could rely on Twitter, which was very effective in the furtherance of
the movement.
When examining the results, we can also see a lot of actions and reactions displayed from the
Nigerian government’s side. They displayed a lot of surveillance. With the rise and
resurgence of the Endsars movement in Nigeria, among its youths, spreading internationally
and bringing the attention of the world on the country, it can be understood that the event
caused them to greatly surveil the social media activities of the Nigerian youths, especially on
Twitter, as the platform was a major tool in the movement for all protesters, both nationally
and internationally. In Amaize’s article, it is stated that President Buhari “urged the
protesters to “resist the temptation of being used by some subversive elements to cause chaos
to truncate our nascent democracy. And that failure to do this will amount to undermining
national security” on October 20th, 2020 during a nationwide broadcast (Amaize, 2021). And
although there were cries from government officials for the Nigerian youths to seize their
protests and movement in the streets of the major Nigerian cities, there were also cries from
social media accounts of these government officials for the movement to end for them to
move forward as a country. In Vincent A. Obia’s article, it is said that “There has been a
relatively sustained attempt to regulate social media use in Nigeria in ways that mirror top-
down control” (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in
Nigeria, 2020). Eventually, after the protest had ended, they reacted with media regulation.
Before and after the protest had occurred, there were requests within the government
allegedly calling for social media regulations as they felt the Nigerian youths were getting out
of hand with their utilization of social media, especially with their effective use of Twitter.
This eventually was unofficially highlighted as one of the reasons that the president
announced the banning of the use of Twitter in the country.
The results of the research met my assumption that Twitter was the best social media stage
during the Endsars protest. There is a need to perceive the motivation behind why Twitter
was particularly being focused on by the Nigerian government to be controlled and ultimately
25
banned. During the protests, Twitter was the virtual gathering place for the youths. It was the
place where they coordinated the protests, shared data, brought issues to light and conveyed
the best game plans. It was likewise where they energized each other, took care of each
other's energy and stressed the significance of remaining joined together and consistent with
the movement's goals (Augustine-Edet, 2021). There is no doubt that Nigerian youths have
used social media as a medium for venting out their critics and concerns regarding the
Nigerian government, and though this encompasses all social media platforms, Twitter has
especially been a public sphere, effectively heightening their voices and concerns for the
virtual world to see. In Aniekan Augustine-Edet’s article, it is stated that
it has become evident that the Nigerian government is desperate to strip the youth of
what has proven to be one of their most powerful weapons. All social media platforms
are powerful in their way, but Twitter trumps them all when it comes to helping the
online activism of Nigerian youths to thrive. Their ability to change and control the
narrative with a single app, by just tweeting, is something the Nigerian government
had never seen before (Augustine-Edet, 2021).
It has become very apparent to the Nigerian government the effectiveness of Twitter by the
Nigerian youths in voicing their concerns and misgivings about the corrupt society they are
living in, prompting them to effectively ban Twitter.
Concerning the consistency of my research with different investigations recently expressed,

the results of this research are steady with Samuel Olaniran's paper concerning Twitter being
more than a basic instinctive social networking site. He expresses that Twitter had turned into
a significant space where youngsters like the Nigerian youths could contribute their time in
(Olaniran, 2014). It has been expressed that Twitter is turning into the central stage for
political talk as it can encourage a more assorted public conversation than different sorts of
social organizations (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation
in Nigeria, 2020). Nonetheless, the results are not reliable with Ononogbu and Chiroma's
paper, they were mostly centred around the effects of social media's impact on the Christian
guidelines and potential gains of the ordinary Nigerian youth. They concentrated on how the
impressive idea of social media is obliterating individual personality and confidence, and
with the deficiency of relational abilities and with next to zero confidence, the slide into
wantonness and wrongdoing has all the earmarks of being inevitable (Ononogbu & Chiroma,
2018). This is immeasurably not the same as what this research centres around and it can
26
even be said that the results disprove them in the way that social media obliterates one's
confidence and individual character, with the deficiency of relational abilities. These results
show the direct inverse of what their research was contained. It is expressed and
demonstrated that Twitter was effectively used to share data regarding protest scenes and to
refresh protesters on breaking news occasions which aided the coordination of the protests by
the protesters (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in
Nigeria, 2020).
In affirmation of the limits of the results, there are a few things the results don't tell us. As the
Twitter results from the just spotlight on tweets that had contained the Endsars hashtag that
was significantly used during the protests, it doesn't consider the tweets that were a piece of
the movement however didn't contain the Endsars hashtag. This is because the advanced
search on Twitter restricted the results to the persons who had the hashtag, and the size of
those tweets was at that point gigantic enough for the examination to happen. Hence, I
needed to restrict myself to those results that all around contained what I wanted. Because of
the method of gathering and analysis as well as the sample size, one might say that the
information has restricted generalizability. The results don't give a precise number of
members because of the huge size of tweets that were utilized and dissected, consequently,
the example size was unquantifiable. In any case, there were a few models given to help the
results show. Along these lines, the information had to be summed up to fit the story of what
the results feature toward the finish of the examination. A potential pertinent variable that
wasn't considered where the other age bunches that were associated with the Endsars protest.
This is because the research just basically centres around the age gathering of 18-35, who are
Nigerian youths, other age bunches that took an interest are excluded or are not centred
around, the main other variable is the Nigerian government. This is because there was a need
to zero in wool research on one specific gathering in the nation and the Nigerian youth are
significantly credited for having a colossal interest in the protest that happened, consequently,
they were my point of convergence during the research cycle.
27
Conclusion
Generally, this is the end reached by the results of the research conducted. Concerning the
research questions, Twitter was exceptionally successful during the Endsars protest for the
Nigerian youths as displayed in the results, because of the legitimate use of the social media
stage by the members and how #EndSARS was utilized gives knowledge into how Twitter
fills in as an organizing stage for oppositional talk and extremist missions in Nigeria (Obia,
#EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020). Indeed,
it was the best social media stage, due to the features used in the application by the Nigerian
youths and the additional consideration paid to it by outside parties. Twitter truly assisted
with intensifying the movement, as opposed to Facebook who brought down a portion of the
#EndSARS posts on its foundation, a move the social media organization in this manner
apologized for (Amaize, 2021). This peculiarity underlines how Twitter is utilized by
Nigerians in contrast with how they utilize other social media stages. At the foundation of
this contention is the affirmation that Nigerians use Twitter in a special lobbyist, forceful and
angry way (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in
Nigeria, 2020). All social media stages are incredible in their particular manner, however,
Twitter bests them all with regards to aiding the web-based activism of Nigerian youths to
flourish. Their capacity to change and control the story with a solitary application, simply by
tweeting, is something the Nigerian government had never seen before (Augustine-Edet,
2021).
As displayed in the results, there were a few procedures utilized among the Nigerian youths
utilizing Twitter and these methodologies were successful in helping the protest. During the
protests, Twitter was utilized in something like three ways: to facilitate protests, to enhance
the voice of the mission worldwide, and to scold brands and well-known individuals
considered to be against the movement. These systems are very much nitty-gritty in the
results, where we see a few occurrences of them utilizing Twitter to share complaints or
mourn, to help and share significant data of the ongoings of the protest, to give supplements
and monetary assistance to the protesters out of luck and ultimately, key figures and
celebrities in the country who impacts the quick development and movement of the youthful
protesters. The participants needed inclusion of the protests by global media sources, and
they considered this to be a triumph, praising each clasp of worldwide media reportage. It
28
appears to be the plan was to "spread the news there", for individuals to retweet broadly, for
celebrities and influencers to utilize the hashtag, and for news on the protests to be generally
circled. This methodology of intensification seems to have been effective (Obia, #EndSARS,
a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020).
In the results delivered by research, it isn't explained regarding what the techniques used by
the government with the end goal for them to control social media because of the Endsars
protest were, in any case, the viability of the said methodology is clear in the inevitable ban
of Twitter in the country. As far as organizing the protests, Twitter was effectively used to
share data concerning protest settings and to refresh protesters on breaking news occasions.
For sure, without a stage like Twitter, it would have been troublesome, if certainly feasible,
for protesters to spread the nation over to facilitate themselves in exceptionally coordinated
and compelling ways and to channel off each other's energy (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique
Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in Nigeria, 2020). It has become obvious that the
Nigerian government is frantic to strip the young people of what has been demonstrated to be
one of their most impressive weapons (Augustine-Edet, 2021).
Displayed from the results and the ensuing conversation, it is clear that the use and impact of
Twitter use by the Nigerian youth during the Endsars protest incredibly impacted the
government's choice to control social media in hast. Directly, following the #EndSARS
movement, there have been bolder calls for guidelines. The turmoil and viciousness that
happened during and after the movement have been accused on social media of
falsehood/disinformation. Some have hooked onto this to require the guideline of social
media. The EndSARS movement has made clear the force of social media, especially Twitter,
in working with the get together of individuals around an issue, individuals who can
communicate their thoughts on stages like Twitter generally liberated from the guideline that
has been forced on the transmission media in Nigeria. Having been helped to remember this,
it appears to be the specialists will presently look for ways of heightening the guideline of
social media (Obia, #EndSARS, a Unique Twittersphere and Social Media Regulation in
Nigeria, 2020).
The methodology that I used was compelling in addressing my research question since they
significantly helped me in the top to bottom examination of conditions behind the unstable
response by the government, towards twitter and, likewise a comprehension of how impacted
the nation, all in all, was by the Endsars protest. The usage of subjective research carried
29
more viable results and reply to my research questions, with approaches utilized in dissecting
the utilization of language in social settings. The research brings up the issue of what
precisely the government did through the range of eight months that lead to the possible ban
of Twitter and for what reason did the choice take such a long time to make. There is
additionally the topic of what the state of affairs of Nigerian youths on Twitter is since the
government has banned Twitter use in the nation and what's to come is of social media
activism going to look like in the country.
The new information contributed by this research brings into the light exactly how significant
the legitimate and viable utilization of a social media stage is to any state or country. Lately,
youthful Nigerians have found and started to utilize the power of digital media and have
managed to cause them to advocate for better administration and bring a finish to every one
of the shameful acts they experience day by day. In this research, it is exceptionally
expressed how the Nigerian youths appropriately used and composed themselves in a social
and political assault against the government on Twitter and how that had significantly
frightened the state making it shut down the social media stage and focus better on different
stages in the nation and how they are being utilized. This was not the first-time attention has
been made to social media guidelines in the nation anyway, but it is the initial time there has
been a brief response towards it which was brought about by the Endsars movement
(Augustine-Edet, 2021). My research matters because it shows a detailed reason as to why
and how the effective use of Twitter amplified the divide between the populace and the state
in Nigeria, and how that can certainly be the case for any other country in the world whose
populace have grievances against their government.
Recommendations
For future research on a comparative subject or one that is identified with the research point
above, it is prescribed that centre ought to be paid to one more gathering of individuals
impacted by the Endsars protest and the Twitter ban made by the Nigerian government, like
the business or the religious parts of the country, who might have been incredibly impacted
by the occasions that happened in the country inside those eight months. These are points that
I feel will grow more detail on media correspondence as of now in the nation and will
likewise give further detail on the connection between the express, individuals and social
media in Nigeria. The subtle conflicts of Nigeria's fundamental protest gatherings and the
30
brutal conflicts between the state and its residents might let us know an extraordinary
arrangement about the nation's future and the contracting metro space under the Buhari
system. There is likewise a need to completely comprehend the position of other social media
networks with the government since they are completely intended towards more guidelines
for social media in Nigeria (Amaize, 2021).
One can meticulously describe the situation with regards to how Twitter was a successful
device for organizations and associations in Nigeria and how the deficiency of the social
media stage has either given them benefits or brought outcomes. There is likewise the subject
of what procedures the government have or will set up for additional guideline of social
media in the nation and how its residents or a particular gathering in the nation will be
impacted by these guidelines. Twitter's part in Nigeria's #EndSARS protests raises worries
concerning how huge American tech organizations settle on choices on improvements in
nations with settings they don't comprehend (Amaize, 2021).
These research questions being used in the future can expand on the ends I have made by
itemizing the outcomes the populace has experienced because of the adequacy of Twitter and
social media use by the Endsars movement. It can likewise respond to the topic of what
systems the government used to appropriately manage social media after the Endsars
movement and how viable it has been up to this point and how far this government will go to
pulverize future #EndSARS protests is not yet clear.
31
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Understanding The Influence of Twitter On Nigerian Youths During The ENDSARS Protest by Ofure Amenkhienan

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Understanding the influence of Twitter on Nigerian Youths

during the ENDSARS Protest

Submitted to Faculty of Arts and Humanities,

School of Media and Performing Arts

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Communications, Culture and Media

Thank you, everyone.

A significant illustration of social media activism, utilizing Twitter as contextual analysis, is

As far as concerns, the Nigerian government professes to be focused on tolerating protesters

During the course of this research, I will:

• Conduct collection of social media posts/tweets by young protesters from Twitter,

A short overview of the paper incorporates, The Literature review/Theoretical framework

Panopticism alludes to a social hypothesis named after the Panopticon which is an

As indicated by Foucault, these proportions of surveillance would serve in extending power.

According to Mann (1998), Sousveillance is a form of “Reflectionism,” a “term invented for

What is affect? Is it an idea, a hypothesis, a philosophy, or a worldview? Affect has been

• “A Government that is more interested in Ending a peaceful protest than listening to

• “To #SideWithNigeria to #EndSARS #EndBadGovernanceinNIGERIA

In Vincent A. Obia's article, he states directly following the #EndSARS movement,

Concerning the consistency of my research with different investigations recently expressed,

Lester, S. (1999). An introduction to phenomenological research . Taunton : Stan Lester

Olaniran, S. (2014, June). SOCIAL MEDIA AND CHANGING COMMUNICATION PATTERNS

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