ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN SOCIAL ACTORS' RESPONSES TO THE #ENDSARS PROTEST

Authors

  • Adedayo Deborah Okoro University of Ibadan Faculty of Arts Department of English

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21618/fil2328536o

Keywords:

#EndSARS, engagement strategies, interrogatives, protest, social actors.

Abstract

Studies on the #EndSARS protest have examined the movement from a non-linguistic standpoint, providing perspectives on the human right violations leading up to the stifling and abrupt end of the protesters’ activities, the potential consequences of the government’s response in relation to foreign ties with global communities, and the economic implications of the protest on the nation. There exists a gap of knowledge in linguistic-related studies on the protest, especially on the techniques protesters employ in establishing meaning and building solidarity with the audience in the communication processes. The study, therefore, examined the engagement strategies in the responses of social actors to events following the #EndSARS protest, and James Martin and Peter White's Appraisal framework constituted the theoretical framework. For data, two newspaper reports on the Lagos State inquiry panel on the protest and the Nigerian government's response to Cable News Network (CNN) were purposively drawn from two Nigerian newspapers, and the analyses were carried out using a descriptive approach. The results showed that of the three selected social actors, only two efficiently engaged readers, providing lucid evidence to corroborate stance in the meaning-negotiation process. Negative connotations were evoked to disclaim, condemn, and disendorse other social actors in the entrenchment of propositional values, and authorial presence was extensively engaged to reveal authors’ evaluative stance.

References

Akinkuotu, E. (2020) #EndSARS: CNN dares FG, releases second report on Lekki shootings. The Punch Featured Stories November 24, 2020.

Akinyetun, T. (2021) Social Media, Youth Participation and Activism: An analysis of the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. In: Obadare, E. (ed.) #EndSARS and beyond: Protests, politics, and the public sphere. Democracy and Development. Journal of West African Affairs. 5(3).

Amnesty International (2009) Killing at will: extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings by the police in Nigeria. United Kingdom: Amnesty International Publications.

------------ (2020) Nigeria: killing of #EndSARS protesters by the military must be investigated. October 21st, http://www.amnesty.org [Accessed 11 December 2020].

Balogun, T. and Akano, R. (2021) Discursive strategies in the tweets and comments of virtual #Endsars protesters. Ihafa: A Journal of African Studies 12 (1), 11–45.

Ben Said, S. and Kasanga, L. (2016) Discourse of Protest: Frames of Identity, Intertextuality and Interdiscursivity. In: Blackwood, R., Lanza, E., and Woldemariam. Negotiating and Contesting Identities in Linguistic Landscapes. London, Bloomsbury, pp. 71–83.

Bossey, F and Asemah, E. (2022) Framing of the #EndSARS Protest by Select Newspapers in Nigeria. Communication, Pandemic and Civil Unrest in Nigeria, 174–181.

Chukwu, S. (2020) The socio-economic effect of #EndSARS protest in Nigeria economy. A thesis submitted to the National Open University of Nigeria.

Clayman, S. (2010) Questions in broadcast journalism. In: Freed, A. and Ehrlich, S. (eds.) Why do you ask? The function of questions in institutional discourse. New York, Oxford University Press.

Egbunike, N. (2021) Digital Africa – from youth movements to government bans. In: Obadare, E. (ed.) #EndSARS and beyond: Protests, politics, and the public sphere. Democracy and Development. Journal of West African Affairs. 5.3.

Husted, T. (2020) Nigeria: #EndSARS protests against police brutality. Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11525 [Accessed 10 December 2020].

Hyland, K. (2005) Stance and engagement: a model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies. 7(2), 173–191.

Iwuoha, V. and Aniche, E. (2022) Protests and blood on the streets: repressive state, police brutality and #EndSARS protest in Nigeria. Secur J. 35(4), 1102–1124.

McCarthy, J. and Zald, M. (1977) Resource mobilization and social movements: a partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.

My Engineers (2020) History of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and how they operate. http://myengineers.com.ng [Accessed 11 December 2021].

Ogundipe, S. (2017) #EndSARS: Police mum as Nigerians recount atrocities of Special Anti-Robbery Squad. http://premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/251271. [Accessed 11 November 2022].

Ojebuyi, R. and Chukwunwike, A. (2018) Gender bias in media representation of political actors: examples from Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election. Legon Journal of Humanities. 29(1), 195–225.

Olokor, F. (2020) FG petitions CNN over Lekki shootings report. The Punch Monday 23rd November, 2020 http://www.punchng.com [Accessed 10 November 2023].

Oritz, I., Burke, S., Berrada, M., and Cortés-Saenz, H. (2022) World protests: a study of key protest issues in the 21st century. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. New York, Initiative for Policy Dialogue/Global Social Justice.

Ozibo, U. (2020) #EndSARS: Nigerian firms, start-ups donate millions in support of protests. Nairametrics Business. http://www.nairametrics.com [Accessed 11 December 2022].

Parenti, M. (1986) Inventing reality: the politics of the mass media. New York, St. Martin’s Press.

Runciman, W. (1966) Relative deprivation and social justice. London, Routledge.

Sabao, C. (2013) The ‘reporter voice’ and ‘objectivity’ in cross-linguistic reporting of ‘controversial’ news in Zimbabwean newspapers. An appraisal approach. A dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Stellenbosch University.

Stekelenburg, J. and van en Klandermans, B. (2009) Social movement theory: past, present and prospect. Invan Kessel, I, and Ellis, S. (eds.) Movers and Shakers: Social movements in Africa. African Dynamics, 8:17-44.

Sunday & Fagunleka, O. (2017) Generic structure potential analysis of feature articles in Nigerian newspapers. Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities. 18(1), 108–130.

Thornborrow, J. (2010) Questions and institutionality in public participation broadcasting. In Freed, A. and Ehrlich, S. (eds.) Why do you ask? The function of questions in institutional discourse. New York, Oxford University Press.

Tupala, M. (2019) Applying quantitative appraisal analysis to the study of institutional discourse: the case of EU migration documents. Functional Linguistics. 6(2), 1–17.

Usman, C. and Ogbuvbu, E. (2021) The impact of the media on the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences. 2(14) 155–165.

Uwazuruike, A. (2020) #EndSARS: the movement against police brutality in Nigeria. Harvard Human Rights Journal. United Kingdom, University of Central Lancashire.

Vanguard News: Judicial Panel: I’m unaware Army called Lekki shootings ‘fake news’ on Twitter. November 21st 2020. http://www.vanguardngr.com [Accessed 11 December 2020].

Wetzstein, I. (2017) The visual discourse of protest movements on Twitter: The case of Hong Kong 2014. Media and Communication. 5(4), 26–39.

Xia, D. (2019) Analysis of criminal court discourse on Steven Avery case from the perspective of Appraisal theory. Atlantis Press, Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. Vol. 329

Secondary sources

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/ncaroles/nca-intelligence-officer/nca-intelligence-officer-knowledge-skills-and-experience [Accessed 4 September, 2020]

Downloads

Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

Okoro, A. D. . . (2023). ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN SOCIAL ACTORS’ RESPONSES TO THE #ENDSARS PROTEST . PHILOLOGIST – Journal of Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies, 14(28), 536–560. https://doi.org/10.21618/fil2328536o