Reifying subaltern voices: a visual communication and figurative discourse of headloading practices in Nigeria

This paper investigates the significance of headloading in Nigeria, particularly its implications for subaltern populations. The research is inspired by a social media conversation, the "Lazy Nigerian Youth" (LNY) debate, where images of headloading were used by Nigerian youth to counter the assertion that they were lazy and unproductive. The LNY conversation, sparked by a statement from Nigeria's former President Muhammadu Buhari, highlighted the perception of Nigerian youth and their response using social media. The author's personal experience with headloading in his upbringing further motivates the study, suggesting headloading practices are deeply embedded in sociocultural contexts. The study aims to explore how visual representations of headloading convey subaltern voices and challenge prevailing power structures. It uses visual data from various sources including social media, artworks, and the author's own experiences to uncover the symbolic meanings behind headloading.

Existing research on headloading highlights its historical function as a porterage service, its prevalence among women and youth, and its connection to packaging. Studies have explored its health impacts, particularly for women and children in sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing energy costs, biomechanical impacts, and injury risks. Headloading has also been analyzed within the broader history of containerization in West Africa, while its visual representations have been noted for their stereotypical and romanticized portrayals in Western contexts. However, previous studies lack a comprehensive analysis of headloading's connection to socio-political and economic spaces. This study aims to fill this gap by examining headloading through a humanistic lens, considering its representation within the LNY protest, to understand its implications for subaltern populations in Nigeria.

This qualitative study employs interpretivist and discursive approaches to analyze visual data. The interpretivist framework seeks to understand the meanings behind human actions and beliefs, acknowledging the fluidity of meaning and subjective nature of social experiences. The discursive approach focuses on meaning-making processes within a visual context, treating visual forms as data to investigate meanings. Visual data are purposively selected from online sources, including Facebook, and art exhibition catalogs. The selection process considers the relevance of the images to the study's objectives and thematic potential. The analysis uses critical discourse analysis adapted for visual texts, encompassing visual discourse (description of visual elements), discursive practice (interpretation of production, distribution, and consumption), and social analysis (explanation of the social context). This three-level analysis, drawing from the work of Fairclough and Wang, enables a contextualized understanding of the ideologies and power relations embedded in the visual representations of headloading.

The analysis reveals that headloading imagery in the LNY protest served as a form of visual resistance, ironically challenging the label of laziness by showcasing the arduous labor involved in headloading. The extreme weight depicted in some images acts as a powerful metaphor for the heavy burden and struggle for survival experienced by many Nigerians. The comments accompanying these images reinforce this interpretation, expressing sarcasm, exhaustion, and despair. The study further analyzes two artworks by Obiora Udechukwu depicting "nightsoilmen," historical headloaders who transported human waste. These images highlight the social and economic servitude associated with headloading, symbolizing a marginalized position within society. Finally, the study introduces a visual metaphor, "Global North on South," to illustrate the relationship between developed and developing nations. This artwork depicts the Global South as a figure burdened by the weight of the Global North, symbolizing the historical and ongoing exploitation and economic dependence of the Global South. The analysis reveals that headloading imagery conveys subaltern voices, articulating struggles, suffering, and the socio-economic disparities in Nigeria and beyond.

The findings demonstrate that headloading serves as a powerful visual metaphor for subalternity, reflecting the socio-economic hardships and marginalization of many Africans. The images, especially those used in the LNY protest, showcase the immense physical and emotional burden faced by individuals engaging in headloading as a means of survival. The study connects headloading to historical and ongoing power imbalances between the Global North and South, demonstrating how colonial legacies continue to affect economic and political structures. By analyzing visual representations, this study provides a nuanced understanding of subaltern experiences and challenges conventional narratives that overlook the complexity and significance of headloading practices.

This study successfully demonstrates how headloading imagery functions as a powerful symbol of subalternity, reflecting the struggles and marginalization of many in Nigeria and across the Global South. The research highlights the importance of analyzing visual representations to understand lived experiences and challenge dominant narratives. Future research could expand this investigation by exploring headloading practices in other contexts and further investigating the evolving role of social media in voicing subaltern experiences.

The study primarily focuses on visual data from Nigeria, limiting the generalizability of findings to other contexts. The reliance on purposive sampling of visual texts might also introduce bias into the analysis. Further research could explore a wider range of visual materials and different methodologies to address these limitations.