Social Media Influencers and Igbo Entrepreneurship: Narratives of Hustle, Resilience, and Digital Survival
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Ozioma Iwuh
Presentation Date: May 14, 2026 @ 18:31 PM
Abstract
This paper examines how young Igbo social media influencers reinterpret the indigenous philosophy that the race for survival is unending. This ethos emphasizes resilience, adaptability, and communal support within the digital economy. Across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, influencers deploy comedic skits, “hustle” narratives, motivational messaging, and curated displays of success to translate core Igbo values of perseverance, apprenticeship, risk-taking, and collective ambition into monetizable content for local and diasporic audiences. Drawing on digital ethnography conducted between 2023 and 2025, complemented by limited computational pattern-mapping of eighteen prominent and emerging influencers, the study identifies recurring strategies in storytelling, audience cultivation, and transnational collaboration. Digital tools were used only to detect trends and cluster themes; an Igbo cultural framework guided all interpretation to maintain human-centered analysis. Findings reveal three dominant strategies: (1) the aestheticization of struggle, where personal hardship is transformed into inspirational, shareable narratives; (2) the deliberate performance of Igbo identity through language, proverbs, kinship address and humor, reinforcing cultural authenticity while deepening audience loyalty; and (3) the building of transnational patronage networks that enable economic collaboration across borders despite weak state infrastructures. The paper argues that Igbo influencers serve as cultural interpreters of contemporary resilience, demonstrating how digital platforms have become sites of entrepreneurial training and identity formation. Social media now functions as a new village square where communal values are taught, negotiated, and reaffirmed. In this sense, digital influencing emerges as a modern expression of Ọsọ Ndụ.
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