The Struggle Complex: Facebook, Visual Critique and the Tussle for Political Power in Nigeria

On November 20, 2014, a violent fight broke out among representatives of the National Assembly in Nigeria. The inter-party confrontation, which illustrates the struggle of elites for power, is not necessarily unprecedented in political history since independence in 1960. But what is fascinating about this particular case is its connection with the new social and visual culture driven by digital infrastructure. Videos and photographs of the event, as well as other images derived from them, spread “virally” online, becoming visible sites of interpersonal exchange. I followed the visual production on Facebook, the platform that allowed me to probe the most lively interaction around these images. In this article, I use analytical tools from semiotics to examine a selection of images and their associated comments. I demonstrate that digital photography and its structuring capabilities, notably through the editing of images, the dissemination and the construction of their meaning, allow subjects of the Nigerien state to criticize the struggle for power among civil servants. Power struggles and their critique produce a complex of struggle that sheds light on the broader political conflicts in Nigeria as well as the growing sense of despair regarding Nigerian postcolonial democracy. This argument provides a better understanding of how digital photography brings “ordinary” citizens into political discussions in Africa and allows them to challenge dominant state power.