Rural hometown construction among the youth in Nigeria: Agencies of significant others and media

Abstract

Youths as a critical socio-demographic cohort represent the gauge of societies relative to the present and future. Youths’ construction(s) of the rural thus present(s) a veritable corridor through which powerful socioeconomic and ideological contestations emergent in the rural-urban divide debates can be well understood in the digital media age of developing countries, especially in Africa. While many studies have been conducted on factors driving the rural-urban divide in developing countries, most focus on migrations with very little attention to social construction(s) of rural space and people, particularly relative to significant others and digital ancillaries. This article thus examines how urban youths construct their being relative to their rural hometown origin. The article is empirical with the use of secondary and primary data within exploratory non-experimental research design with intergenerational factoring that interconnects kin, media (Nollywood) and the youths in rural construction contexts. Useful findings were made and valid conclusions reached, and these are presented in this article.