From Social Media Space to Sound Space: Protest Songs during Occupy Nigeria Fuel Subsidy Removal

ABSTRACT Protests result from unpleasant situations and the need for change in the social and economic conditions of the people. Music is often employed during protests. Several articles have been conducted on the Occupy Nigeria protest of 2012. However, little has been said about the musical sound space that mobilised the masses to embark on protest marches in Nigeria. This article focuses on sound space as employed during the Occupy Nigeria protest of 2012. It analyses the movements of people from the social media space to a musical space, as witnessed during the protests in Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota Lagos. It further analyses the content of the music of selected musicians, whose music was played, or who personally performed during the protest. Both primary and secondary data were used. The data included interviews with protesters and some musicians in Lagos state, Nigeria. Secondary sources included books, periodicals, journals, the use of YouTube videos of the protesting masses, as well as information sourced from the net. Based on Deprivations-Frustrations-Aggressions and critical discourse analysis (CDA) theories, the findings show that the organised protest started on the media space and was sustained through the sound space at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park. The article further argues that the music space was not a jamboree, but a revolutionary movement against the government of the day in Nigeria.