Annual Street Carnivals and Youth Violence in South-West Nigeria

Abstract

The growing number of carnival-related violence has added another dimension to the problem of youth violence in Nigeria. On this basis, this study investigated youth violence associated with annual street carnivals in south-west Nigeria. Social disorganisation theory was adopted as a theoretical framework. In-depth interview, key-informant interview and focus group discussion methods were employed for data collection; and purposive and snowball sampling techniques were utilised for the selection of 68 respondents. Findings revealed that youth attached spiritual and symbolic meanings to their annual end-of-the-year street carnivals. However, there were divergent opinions regarding the benefits accruable from street carnivals as most of the respondents contended that street carnivals are increasingly becoming synonymous with violence in south-west Nigeria. Lax security arrangements at carnival grounds, supremacy battle, and retaliation among carnival participants were the major factors promoting violence. Therefore, state governors in the region should be more proactive towards addressing violence associated with annual street carnivals.