From Streets to Screens: Urban Popular Culture and Political Mobilization in Nigeria’s #EndSARS Protests
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Abstract
This paper examines how popular culture and digital media shaped youth-led mobilization during Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests. While scholarship on Nigerian activism often focuses on state violence and democratic struggle, this study highlights the creative cultural practices that energized participation. Drawing on ethnographic observation, social media content analysis, and interviews with 25 activists, artists, and digital creators, the paper shows how music, memes, performances, and protest art transformed demonstration sites into vibrant spaces of resistance. Hip-hop, Afrobeats, satire, and visual art amplified public grievances about police brutality while fostering solidarity across Lagos, Abuja, and diasporic communities. The study also finds that platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok extended protest culture beyond physical spaces, enabling local demands to circulate globally. The paper argues that creativity in African urban contexts operates as both political expression and survival strategy, and that understanding these cultural dimensions is essential for interpreting contemporary youth activism and democratic change.
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