1. T HE C YBERSHPERE A S P OLITICAL E NGAGEMENT S PACE : A S TUDY OF THE U SE OF S OCIAL M EDIA IN N IGERIA N D EMOCRACY Tunde Opeibi, PhD University of Lagos, Nigeria CSDH/SCHN Canadian Society of Digital Humanities Conference, 28 May-June 3, 2016, Calgary University, Alberta, Canada

2. Background Digital Humanities is taken here as an exploration and application of a range of computer-based techniques and approaches to the study and analysis of humanistic- new media data Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 2

3. T HIS P RESENTATION Situates the study within the framework of digital humanities Discusses how the application of social media and digital tools unveils new information about civic engagement and political discourse in Nigeria Presents situation report on digital humanities in Nigeria Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 3

4. BACKGROUND: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY & N IGERIAN POLITICS Digital technology reshapes our idea of the world and society Digital media change very quickly For the first time in the history of democracy in Nigeria, we are witnessing a huge transformation through technological revolution Although these technologies have been around for a couple of years, their applications to political activities in Nigeria is recent The technology is creating a new future for politics and democracy in developing nations With new technologies come new techniques of doing politics DH is pointing us in a new direction & giving us new tools Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 4

5. O BJECTIVES Evaluates evolutions and trends in the application of digital technologies and how that development impacts Nigerian politics Explores how new technologies, and changing modes of usage and engagement with digital media technologies are bringing about innovation and transformation in politics and democracy Applies some digital tools to analyse some digital data from the 2015 general elections in Nigeria Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 5

6. The Context of this Study: NIGERIA Located in Sub-Saharan African Population: 167.5 million 36 States + FCT, Abuja Geo- Demography Returns to Full Democracy in 1999 Presidential System Mr Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress elected president in 2015 English, the Official Language of Politics Political Configuration Internet Penetration highest in Africa- 46.1% Mobile Technologies Teledensity- Digital Technology Penetration Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 6

7. 1 Mobile Phone Users114.72m 2 Internet Users92, 699, 924m 3 Facebook Users15m 4 Twitter Users3.8m Table 1: Statistics showing number of users of major new media applications in Nigeria as at 15 th November 2015 Source: Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 7 http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm

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9. Milestones in the Use of Social Media in Nigerian Politics ( 2011- 2015) 2011 General Elections Limited Use of Social Media for Political Activities 2012 Fuel Subsidy Removal Protests Government Policy Dissemination, Administration etc 2015 Bring Back Our Girls Campaigns General Elections( Campaigns, Electoral Administration etc) Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 9

10. The level of awareness of the role of Social Media in politics and advocacy has increased significantly Source: http://eie.ng/blog/2016/03/t he-frivolous-petitions- prohibition-bill-aka-social- media-bill/ Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 10

11. O UR DH P ROJECT Digital Humanities is a new field in Nigeria 2015- Digital Humanities Research Unit (DIHRU) is pioneering this fields in the country and in the sub-region Corpus of Nigeria New Media Discourse in English(CONNMDE) involves the compilation of about 5 million word tokens of online conversation in Nigeria. 1 st Phase : Construction of a sub-corpus of online political text ( 2 million word tokens)- Corpus of Nigeria New Media Political Discourse in English(CONNMPDE) 2 nd Phase : Construction of other online text in other fields e.g. Commerce, Religion, Academic, Social Networking, Legal, Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 11

12. The project is driven by the need to use techniques and concepts drawn from the fields of digital humanities to answer concrete questions about Big Data and digital cultures It explores new strategies of research and new ways of applying new and existing methods and techniques Seeks to contribute to the development of new concepts and knowledge in democratic practice and digital humanities The outcome may also help to strengthen democratic principles Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 12

13. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 13 The Home page of our DH project in Nigeria(www. connmde.com)www. connmde.com

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15. Digital Humanities Research Unit, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos Digital Media Laboratory Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 15

16. INAUGURATION OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES RESEARCH UNIT(DIHRU) On November 11, 2015 Dr Tunde Opeibi Prof Jide Alo DVC ( A & R) German Consul-General Mr Ingo Herbert The Inauguration Ceremony of the Project Office of Digital Humanities Research Unit, University of Lagos)

17. To document, digitise and disseminate results of the application of digital tools in Nigerian democracy. Provide online access to the data for policy and research purposes Demonstrate instances of actual Civic Engagement processes and popular participation Provide a platform, a sort of mechanism of feedback from the analysis into the discourse community GOALS OF CONNMDE Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 17

18. DH AND CONNMDE Background to the Present Study This study applies digital humanities analytic methodologies to the compilation and study of online political text in Nigeria between 2011 and 2015 2011 and 2015- the period of ‘internet boom’ or ‘digital revolution’ in Nigeria A range of social and digital media technologies were utilised for political and democratic activities The study utilised Digital research tools such as SketchEngine, Topsy, AntConc, Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 18

19. Corpus-Based Approaches to the Study of Discursive Text( Computer-mediated communications( Herring 2001, 2004) The design of the corpus was tightly controlled to achieve balance of different elements( newspapers, websites and social media) Methodology: Computational procedures for data collection, storage, and access, large-scale data processing, human-interaction with data, statistical/computational models, technical challenges, communicating results, visualisation, 3 main criteria were used for the design: (a)Selection of Topical Issues on politics and governance (b)News stories on politics and governance that attracted more than 200 comments (c)Posts, messages and comments on FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND HOMEPAGEES of Political actors and stakeholders Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 19

20. Sources of Primary Data S/NO. TYPE 1. WEBSITES OF POLITICAL PARTIES/CANDIDATES, GOVERNMENTS, MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS, PUBIC INSTITUTIONS, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS 2. FACEBOOK PAGES OF STAKEHOLDERS(Politicians, Civil Rights Campaigners etc) 3. TWITTER HANDLES OF STAKEHOLDERS 4. BLOGSPHERES OF POLITICAL COMMENTATORS/STAKEHOLDERS(e.g. Naijapals, Naijaparrots) 5. OTHER RELEVANT ONLINE PLATFORMS AND ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVING ONLINE DATA AND NEWS ON NIGERIA Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 20

21. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 21 Political Website as Campaign Tool & Engagement Space

22. Online Portals of National Newspapers as Platform for Interactions, Engagement and Participation  618 Online Comments/reactions to President Jonathan’s Statement: “There are plans to Bring down my Government”- Punchonline May 26, 2014” Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 22

23.  The possibility of the emergence of new discourse forms and patterns is high under the influence of CMC- mediated codeswitching phenomena Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 23

24. D ELIVERABLES OF THE S TUDY The study allows us to ask some pertinent questions about what digital tools can help us see in large documents which are ordinarily hidden What topics/issues attract greater number of online interactions What can we see or learn about how people discuss/react to political issues online? How many people are interacting with political topics and from where and how often What kinds of topics are generating interest among online users and why? 1 2 3 4 5 Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 24

25. What do these tell us about how people understand politics and governance from the conversation? How can these help policy makers change the ways things are done? What do all these tell us about the culture of the people? How do these show the rate or pace of development in democratic practice in Nigeria Will it improve democratic conversation by democratising the discursive space, increasing participation and dialogue? In what ways have these promoted accountability, transparency and popular participation? Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 25

26. What can people outside the context learn about democracy in Nigeria, the people, the cultures of the people, their cultures and social practices How can these online conversations contribute towards helping to develop the system?[ Feedback system provided by the project] The project allows us to digitise political discourse text, publish them online and make them available to local and global audiences The website will be updated and populated with relevant data regularly since it is a specialised monitoring corpus Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 26

27. Further Possible Outcomes Addresses gaps in theory and practice, secondary data analysis, web scraping, sentiment analysis, real-time and historical data processing, simulating and modelling Suggests future steps and projects regarding research, policy reform, technological development, etc. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 27

28. APPLICATION OF D IGITAL M EDIA IN N IGERIAN D EMOCRACY : P RELIMINARY R ESULTS Greater awareness are now created among Nigerians on the potential of digital media tools to improve democracy Between 2007 and 2015, greater application of a range of social media tools by politicians, political parties, public officials, public institutions, electoral body, non- governmental organisations, stakeholders, and ordinary citizens Usage of social and digital media tools during elections( Electoral Purposes) ( 1 ) Political education- electoral body, political parties, NGOs use their websites ( 2) Electoral Mobilisation- voter registration, participation in elections ( 3 ) Political Campaigns- ( 4) Advocacy ( 5 ) Electoral Management/Administration ( 6 ) Election monitoring Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 28

29. G OVERNANCE & A DMINISTRATION Policy Communication/Information( Government websites) Civic Engagement ( Facebook, Twitter, Websites) Citizens’ Mobilisation ( Website, Facebook) Government administration ( e-governance) ( Website, Mobile Phones) Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 29

30. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 30 APPLICATION OF SKETCH ENGINE TO ANALYSE SOME DATA FROM OUR CORPUS

31. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 31 Key wordsScore FRefF Key termsScore FRefF Pdp2,062.5525910,263 stomach infrastructure 1,698 119 0 Osun1,511.651161,233 governorship election 394.42 28 207 Ekiti886.57 66 815 good governance 211.37 28 11.606 Nigeria 371. 10274 123,626 Kerosene175.86 26 14,449 Governance144.64156 186,607 governorship candidate 185.11 13 103 electioneering 118.8 10 2,708 malpractices 100.81 8 1,837 Inducing83.291622,717 Stomach 76.54153 356,915 political lexicon 169.60 12 200 infrastructure75.81215 511,746 urban governance 153.73 11 358 mass poverty 126.7 9 287 Sketch Engine concordance on ‘Stomach Infrastructure’ as at October 12, 2014 CONNMDE: Extracted keywords and key terms on ‘Stomach Infrastructure’

32. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 32 Sketch Engine concordance on ‘Stomach Infrastructure’ as at February 2015

33. Discussion of the Use of SketchEngine The application of this digital tool enables us to understand a range of meanings and emerging discursive pattern in this political context. The repatterning and reinterpretation of discourse tokens such as ‘stomach infrastructure’ which carries some social pragmatic meaning The quantitative information provides some clue to understand the context and meaning of the discourse. The first 5- 10 key words and terms in Slides 31 & 32 are associated with the campaign discourse, the candidates, context and the content of the political campaign discourse in a regional election in Nigeria. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 33

34. For example:  (i) the party(PDP) the context ( Ekiti State), (iv) the sister state where next election is to take place(Osun), (iii) candidate accused of inducing electorate (Fayose), (iv) the opponent that coined the term ( Fayemi), (v) the country ( Nigeria), one of the products distributed to induce electorate( Kerosene), the opposition party of Mr Fayemi(APC)  Other key words that enjoy frequent mentions during the search query are: Governance, Electioneering, malpractices, inducing, stomach, infrastructure etc  Key terms are: stomach infrastructure, governorship election, good governance,material infrastructure, expired rice etc Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 34

35. Word Cloud analysis of key topics trending during the 2015 elections in Nigeria. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 35 Use of Keyhole to monitor 2015 elections

36. SIGNIFICANCE OF D IGITAL M EDIA A NALYTICS The application of these DH tools tell us something about political conversation and democratic practice in Nigeria: DH tools now enable us to track conversation, analyse trending messages, events and monitor issues that are receiving more attention The analytics reveals quantitative information about the data that suggests the prominence and intensity of discursive issues and interactions The significance of these texts within the context and perhaps their social meanings and cultural implication [e.g. stomach infrastructure] Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 36

37. The Project may also raise the following questions: How can we use the data to confirm what we know? How can we use the data to pose new questions and explore new directions in policy and governance? How can the Big Data project help to improve and promote global understanding about politics and governance in Nigeria? Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 37

38. The analyses show the social dimension of the application of digital tools in politics By encouraging greater participation in public discourse and policy conversation, democratic practice is improved, dialogue is promoted, conflicts are reduced, leaders are called to account Issues of national and global importance are mediatized and transmitted via online platforms The study shows how social and digital technologies are changing the ways politics is done and democracy is promoted and practised in a developing nation Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 38

39. CONCLUSIONS: B ENEFITS OF DH T OOLS IN D EMOCRACY It is believed that with the widespread of these technologies, we can create a better methods of doing political discourse. Although political discourse has been around for a long time but new media technologies are offering new options and new methods, refining the way it is done in a whole new way. The study helps to show how new media has transformed/is transforming the way political leaders interact with citizens. New technologies have increased both the space and speed of politics and political conversation. By combining both the traditional and new media approaches we can arrive at a more dynamic outcome that can change democratic process Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 39

40. Future of DH in Africa: Possible DH Projects in Nigeria/Africa DH is a virgin and untapped productive venture in Africa Availability of Mines of Cultural and Archival Materials that have not been explored nor digitised Retelling the Old African Story Digitally & in a New Way to the Global Audience Digitising Cultural Artefacts and Archival Materials Unveiling Hidden Cultural Experiences through Digital Tools Big Data Opportunities Application of DH Tools in Education, Research etc Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 40

41. Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 41 Tunde Opeibi, PhD Associate Professor ( New Media & Digital Cultures) University of Lagos & Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany Email: bopeibi@unilag.edu.ng Acknowledgement This research is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany.

42. References Opeibi, Tunde (2016). Digital Media and Civic Engagement in Nigeria: A Corpus-Based Discourse Study of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Facebook Page. Taiwo R., and Opeibi, T. (eds) ( 2016). Discourse of Digital Civic Engagement: Perspectives from the Developing World. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc. 1-34 Opeibi, T( 2015b). New Media and the Transformation of Political Cultures in Nigeria: An exploration of a corpus-based discourse approach. REAL Studies 9. 202-231 http://j150isioma47.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-impact-of-traditional-media-such-as.html http://eie.ng/blog/2016/03/the-frivolous-petitions-prohibition-bill-aka-social-media-bill/ www.internetworldstats Tunde Opeibi University of Lagos CSDH Conference 2016 42