‘Occupy Nigeria 2012’: A CriticaludAnalysis of Facebook Posts inudthe Fuel Subsidy Removal Protestsudud‘Occupy Nigeria 2012’: Un análisis crítico de las publicaciones en Facebook tras las protestas por la retirada de ayudas al combustible

摘要

This study critically examines the discourse of posts on Facebook in theud‘occupy Nigeria’ fuel subsidy removal protests. The Facebook posts are viewed asudprotest discourse with its ideological imprints of positive ‘we’ in-group representationsudand negative ‘other’ out-group constructions. With a CDA analytical approach, the studyudshows that Facebook posts are effectively used to describe the identity of the actors,udarticulate their arguments and demands, enunciate their activities and goals as well asudprovide information updates to the protesters. The protesters apply linguistic strategiesudsuch as code-switching between English and the local languages (e.g. Yoruba) andudthe use of Standard Nigerian English and the local pidgin to express solidarity as welludas for social interaction. Interestingly, Facebook messages were posted from withinudNigeria and also from other countries of the Nigerian diaspora. However despite theudseeming effectiveness of the online protests via Facebook, the Nigerian protesters didudnot ultimately achieve their aim partly because the protests did not attract sufficient participation. The individuals engaged in the protests were divided and many stilludpledged their loyalty to political in-group and ethnic interest rather than national interest.