Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
A
fundamental element of politics includes a collective interactive process of
governing society and making decisions for the welfare of its members. Politics
permeates economic, social, and environmental spheres. Its influence,
especially in terms of policy formulation, execution and enforcement cannot be
underestimated. It affects the lives of every individual in society, either
directly or indirectly. An educational system that does not include a critical
and creative study of politics both in theory and practice is disadvantageous
to society (Pacho, 2014).
Today,
the citizenship education has become a very important study field in the entire
world. Political education, on the other hand, has another important dimension
in the citizenship education. Thus, there is a rapid increase in the number of
studies concerning the citizenship education and the political education (Kus &
Tarhan, 2016).
Nevertheless,
a good political knowledge is significant not only in teaching politics, in
pursuing a career as a professional politician, in working in a government
ministry, but also in working in many specialised institutions and voluntary
organisations, in voting, and in conversations about politics (Pacho, 2014).
Arguably, political education is lacking in Nigeria. People
do not get proper orientation from Government, the newspapers only set agenda
for the citizens to be battling, most of which are not always correct, and that
is why coordinated efforts by the masses towards development is largely
unattainable as the people are disconnected from what the Government is doing.
However, there have been change in the narratives with the introduction
of social media. Social media has really helped a lot in education the populace
a great deal on many matters that matter to them and that affects the country
generally. In recent times, people are now heavily using the internet, with
social media such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn taking
the lead.
During the End SARS protest during the month of October in
2020 in Nigeria, the significance of social media as a political tool has been
highly evident. Information of national interest were massively shared during
this period on social media.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The
End SARS protest was regard as one of the most effective and successful protest
in the history of Nigeria. The protest also recorded one of the highest turnout
of protesters in the history of the country. This was however not without some
powerful fulcrum that engendered its popularity both nationally and
internationally. One of this powerful tools used during this period was the
social media. The social media plays significant role in ensuring that the
population are well informed about the aim of the protest, the right of the
people, and the reason why they should be involved in the protest.
One
out social media platforms that really made the protest more successful compare
to other protest of the past is Twitter. This is because other popular social
media platforms like Facebook and Instagram barred every form of message
attached to the protest. Twitter was one of the powerful social media platforms
with its hashtags which help the campaign to spread like wildfire. Twitter was
massively engaged by the protesters to pass information, increase the
consciousness of the people, and ultimately educate the people about their
rights.
The
hashtag #SoroSoke, #EndSARSNow, #EndPoliceBrutality among others were used to
reach out to large numbers of people. Despite the fact the broadcasting
stations shutdown their stations from transmitting the news about the protest
for the general public to see, the youths adopted Twitter in updating the
people about the protest as it unfolds nationwide.
This
called in the attention of the international community, both Nigerians at the
diaspora and other countries of the world. This platform was also used in
raising fund to fuel the protest. People from different countries of the world
were highly interested, and a great deal of money were made in the process.
Information about each line of action of the protesters regardless of where
they were done on the Twitter. Even those who were not present physically were
able to lend their voice via Twitter. The platform was also engaged in
negotiating with the federal government on issue related to the demands of the protesters.
Information on this platform give better picture of what is going on in the
country and what should be their duty as the citizen of the country.
During
this period, some set of youths have also reported to have created political
party of their own that would help in ousting the existing administration in
power. It is against this backdrop it becomes important to inquire into the
role twitter plays in the End SARS as a tool for political education, as there
are many things to discover.
1.3 Research Objectives
The
main objective of this study is to examine the role of twitter as a tool for
political education during the End SARS protest. The specific research
objectives are to:
i.
examine the views of people about the use
of social media handles for information dissemination;
ii.
investigate protesters
reasons for staying to Twitter during the End SARS protest; and
iii.
Unveil
the ways twitter contributed to educating the people about activities of the
protesters.
1.4 Research Questions
i.
What are the views of people about the use
of social media handles for information dissemination?
ii.
What are the investigate protesters
reasons for staying to Twitter during the End SARS protest?
iii.
What are the ways twitter contributed to
educating the people about activities of the protesters?
1.5 Significance of the study
Twitter
have been a very popular social media platform where information of national
interest is disseminated on a constant basis. During the End SARS protest of
2020 in Nigeria, this medium was heavily used, and there have been little
conscious scholarly concerns about the role is plays as a political tool to
educate the citizen during this protest. Embarking on this project would help
in ensuring that this gap is being addressed.
1.6 Limitations of the Study
This
study would only make use of twitter of all the social media platform adopted
during the End SARS protest of 2020. Other social media platforms would not be
included. The study would only engage Youths that actively participated in the
course of the protest using Twitter.
1.7 Definition of Terms
i.
Protest: an
expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in
opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid
ii.
Twitter:
is a social media site, and its primary purpose
is to connect people and allow people to share their thoughts with a big
audience
iii.
Social Media: Social media are interactive digitally-initiated technologies that
facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression
via virtual communities and network.
iv.
Political Education: Political education is a desideratum for enhanced political skills,
knowledge and participation in democracy.