This article explores issues around the changing nature of social networks and social movements involving youth in Nigeria. Using the youth-driven 2012 fuel subsidy protests, the article raises two fundamental questions. First, do the youth-led protests represent a genuine shift for the youth from being mere subalterns to neo-patrimonial power groups to a more assertive role, which seeks to challenge the power structure in the country, or are they simply frustrated expressions of marginality? Second, in what ways have social media affected social networks and movements and their capacity for mobilization in Nigeria? It appears that the bourgeoning youth population in Nigeria has led to a realization by youth groups of their power to substantially affect the course and conduct of governance in the country. On 1 January 2012, the Nigerian government unilaterally decided to remove the subsidy on petrol leading to a 120 per cent increase in the price of the product. The move provided opportunities for youth resistance through social media. This article uses insights from this protest to explore these questions and show the fluid nature of youth social networks and movements.
Demographic changes, growing unemployment, social media penetration, an interplay of religion and politics provided the combustible mix for the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring has helped generate awareness about quality of governance, legitimacy and relationship between state and society but is muted as it relates to its effects on national security in Nigeria. Indeed, from a historical perspective, a direct effect of the Arab Spring on Nigerian National Security is not obvious. The paper argues that the challenges facing national security in Nigeria is independent of the Arab Spring but identifies some ripples from the Arab Spring that could create anxious moments for national security planners in Nigeria.
When the Arab Awakening, later renamed Arab Spring, erupted in 2011, following an attempt by a Tunisian street vendor to immolate himself in December 2010, little did West African governments expect that the troubles engineered by North African masses protesting decades of poor leadership riddled with denials of fundamental rights would impact their nations. Nigeria became one of the sub-Saharan African nations to feel the ripples of the Arab Spring. This study, based on textual examination of current media and non-media sources, examines the challenges of security and development in North Africa from independence until the eruption of the Arab Spring. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of the 2011 uprising on West Africa, especially Nigeria, and’outlines lessons the Nigeria Defence Industry can learn from the event.