Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Brief Background to the Study
3. Objective of the Study
4. Framing Theory
4.1. Problem Identification: Exposing Police Brutality and Systemic Injustice
4.2. Causal Interpretation: Identifying Systemic Roots
4.3. Moral Evaluation: Advocating Justice and Human Rights
4.4. Treatment Recommendation: Mobilizing for Change
5. Methods
- Challenging False Narratives: Countering government portrayals of victims and protesters as criminals or threats, thereby reframing their identities and struggles.
- Exposing Systemic Injustices: Revealing deep-rooted abuses perpetrated by the Nigerian Police Force, particularly the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), as institutional rather than isolated acts.
- Mobilizing Public Support: Galvanizing local and global participation in the movement through emotional resonance and calls to action.
- Amplifying Protester Voices: Elevating marginalized perspectives to center the experiences of those affected by SARS brutality.
- Highlighting Hidden Injustices: Bringing to light abuses that might otherwise have been obscured or ignored, ensuring visibility for systemic issues.
6. Analysis of Selected Samples
6.1. “End SARS Now! E Fit Be You Next” by Debo Adebayo (Mr. Macaroni)
6.2. Ezu River by Chigozie Obi
6.3. The Blood-Stained Flag (Uncredited)
7. Discussion of Findings
7.1. Problem Identification
7.2. Causal Interpretation
7.3. Moral Evaluation
7.4. Treatment Recommendation
8. Conclusions
Reframing Resistance: Artivism and the Legacy of Sòrò-Sókè
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
BLM | Black Lives Matter |
COVID-19 | Coronavirus Disease 2019 |
SARS | Special Anti-Robbery Squad |
Appendix A
- Skit Transcript: “End SARS now! E fit be You Next” by Debo Adebayo (Mr. Macaroni)
- Characters:Mr. Macaroni: DaddyMotunde: Mr. Macaroni’s DaughterRichard: Mr. Macaroni’s SonSARS Officer 1: Police officerSARS Officer 2: Police officerSARS Officer 3: Police officer{Mr. Macaroni steps out of his home onto the street, engaged in a phone call.}
- Mr. Macaroni: (Speaking on the phone) Let’s go.Motunde: (Rushing out to speak with her father) Daddy, you are the one I’m talking to.Mr. Macaroni: You are talking to me that what?Motunde: Daddy, I want to go and join the protest.Mr. Macaroni: What protest are you joining?Motunde: EndSARS now.Mr. Macaroni: Shut up your mouth! What do you know that is the meaning of EndSARS? (Motunde displays discontent.) Okay, all these youths that are shouting EndSARS, what job are they doing that they are driving big Benz?Motunde: (Surprised) Ah, Daddy!Mr. Macaroni: (Interrupting) What job are they doing? That’s why I called my friends now, all the religious leaders, the pastors, the imam, all of them. They are not saying anything. I don’t want to say we are jealous, but I’m concerned. During my own time, if you’ve not done 9–5, you cannot have money. You cannot have good money; you cannot live a good life. That’s why the government is not saying anything because they know that the youths will talk a bit and get tired.Motunde: (Expressing disagreement) It’s not supposed to be like this. Daddy, we are supposed to …Mr. Macaroni: (Cutting her off) Shut up your mouth! Are you suffering from SARS?Motunde: Daddy, is it until they catch me that I’ll suffer from them?Mr. Macaroni: (Interrupting) Shut up your mouth! Don’t worry. I will take you to my Ikoyi residence, the way my friends are doing. When your brother comes now, I will fly you abroad so no evil can come to you, no SARS can disturb you.{A police truck passes by; officers hail Mr. Macaroni.}SARS Officer 1: Ah baba!Mr. Macaroni: How are you? (Addressing the officer) SARS, well done, well done! Scorpion, the real Scorpion.SARS Officer 1: Na, you nah.Mr. Macaroni: (Referring to protesters) You see all these people shouting EndSARS? They are criminally minded.SARS Officer 1: They are criminals!Mr. Macaroni: Yes.SARS Officer 1: They are shouting EndSARS. In two or three days time, they’ll tired. {Motunde looks dismayed.}Mr. Macaroni: They will be tired; they will be tired, my brother.SARS Officer 1: You know why?Mr. Macaroni: Yes.SARS Officer 1: Government! Did they talk?Mr. Macaroni: Of course not.SARS Officer 1: Powerful people like you …Mr. Macaroni: That we should be talking. We are not dying anything. We don’t care.SARS Officer 1: In fact, as we are talking now, we just wasted one of them.Motunde: (Exclaiming) Hah!Mr. Macaroni: Okay, a criminal is there now?SARS Officer 1: We killed the criminal.Mr. Macaroni: Motunde, come so that you will know what this people are fighting for; they are protecting us from criminals like this.{Officers reveal the victim in the truck, shocking Motunde and Mr. Macaroni.}Motunde: (Exclaiming) Brother Richard! (Turning to her father, Mr. Macaroni) Daddy, see what I’m talking about. Brother Richard. Daddy, see! (Starts weeping){Mr. Macaroni slaps and lashes out at the officers.}Mr. Macaroni: Who is a criminal? This is my son now. Richard, Richard! (Mr. Macaroni clinched to his son’s body and was crying.){A flashback reveals the events leading to Richard’s demise.}Richard: (In pain) Please …SARS Officer 3: Are you mad? (Harassing Richard)SARS Officer 1: Get down! (Continues the assault) I said get down! We don’t use shiny jewelries; you are using shiny jewelries.Richard: Oh my God! What have I done? What have I done? (Desperate) Can I call my father?SARS Officer 1: It will not be well with your father!SARS Officer 2: (Commanding his colleagues) Waste this boy for me there now. {The officers fatally shoot Richard and carry his body.}SARS Officer 1: Anybody that’s fresh like this is a criminal.SARS Officer 2: Waste him.SARS Officer 3: It will not be well with you{They place Richard’s body in the truck}{Scene fades out}#EndSARS #EndPoliceBrutality #ReformPoliceNG(The End)
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Afolabi, T.; Gabriel, F. Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement. Journal. Media 2025, 6, 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6020069
Afolabi T, Gabriel F. Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement. Journalism and Media. 2025; 6(2):69. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6020069
Chicago/Turabian StyleAfolabi, Taiwo, and Friday Gabriel. 2025. "Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement" Journalism and Media 6, no. 2: 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6020069
APA StyleAfolabi, T., & Gabriel, F. (2025). Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement. Journalism and Media, 6(2), 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6020069