Ethnic othering in Nigeria’s electoral discourse: the need for intercultural competence

Sopuruchi Christian Aboh; John Ganaah; Godswill Uchechukwu Chigbu

doi:10.1080/14708477.2024.2326110

Ethnic othering in Nigeria’s electoral discourse: the need for intercultural competence

Sopuruchi Christian Aboh, John Ganaah, Godswill Uchechukwu Chigbu (Corresponding Author)

Department of English and Communication

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examines online ethnic othering during Nigeria’s 2023 general elections. The study employs a critical discourse analytic (CDA) framework and utilises a corpus of 7678 Facebook comments from Nigerians. The analysis reveals that individuals from the Yoruba ethnic group stereotype the Igbo people by questioning their legitimacy and voting rights as residents in Yoruba lands, especially Lagos. This stereotype is perpetuated through the legitimation strategy of historicising ethnic politics, which justifies ethnic prejudices. The study concludes with a call for intercultural competence, which is crucial in promoting respect
for diversity, human rights, and inter-ethnic differences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Journal	Language and Intercultural Communication
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2024.2326110
Publication status	Published - Mar 2024

Keywords

Critical discourse analysis
electoral discourse
ethnicity
online othering
social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication
Linguistics and Language

More information

10.1080/14708477.2024.2326110

http://hdl.handle.net/10397/107976

Cite this

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title = "Ethnic othering in Nigeria{\textquoteright}s electoral discourse: the need for intercultural competence",

abstract = "This study examines online ethnic othering during Nigeria{\textquoteright}s 2023 general elections. The study employs a critical discourse analytic (CDA) framework and utilises a corpus of 7678 Facebook comments from Nigerians. The analysis reveals that individuals from the Yoruba ethnic group stereotype the Igbo people by questioning their legitimacy and voting rights as residents in Yoruba lands, especially Lagos. This stereotype is perpetuated through the legitimation strategy of historicising ethnic politics, which justifies ethnic prejudices. The study concludes with a call for intercultural competence, which is crucial in promoting respect for diversity, human rights, and inter-ethnic differences.",

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AB - This study examines online ethnic othering during Nigeria’s 2023 general elections. The study employs a critical discourse analytic (CDA) framework and utilises a corpus of 7678 Facebook comments from Nigerians. The analysis reveals that individuals from the Yoruba ethnic group stereotype the Igbo people by questioning their legitimacy and voting rights as residents in Yoruba lands, especially Lagos. This stereotype is perpetuated through the legitimation strategy of historicising ethnic politics, which justifies ethnic prejudices. The study concludes with a call for intercultural competence, which is crucial in promoting respect for diversity, human rights, and inter-ethnic differences.

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KW - social media

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Ethnic othering in Nigeria’s electoral discourse: the need for intercultural competence

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

More information

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