ABSTRACT
The work seeks to investigate the pragmatic analysis of hate speeches in Nigeria. Political campaign, as an integral part of democracy, thrives on the centrality of language use. The 2015 generalelection in Nigeria witnessed a campaign of calumny, full of inflammatory rhetoric and verbal attacks on perceivedpolitical opponents, capable of truncating the country’s nascent democracy. Hence, this work examines, from perspectiveof pragmatics, instances of hate speeches made by political actors during the 2015 general election campaigns in Nigeriawith the aim of revealing their pragmatic import. Since language is an instrument of action, the Speech Act theory (SAT)by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969) serves as our theoretical framework. The data analysed were retrieved frompublications of purposively selected Nigerian newspapers and magazine between 2012 and 2015. A total number of 40 (forty) speeches were selected and subjected to illocutionary act analysis (direct and indirect) which brings the totalspeech acts performed to 40 (forty). The perlocutionary effects of the locutions were also measured from the illocutionaryforce of each utterance. The findings revealed that campaign speeches made prior to the 2015 general elections in Nigeriaserve as weapons of intimidation, blackmail, incitement and coercion and thus created an atmosphere of fear and anxietywithin the polity. Based on this, the work recommends enlightenment programmes on the tenets of democracy and goodgovernance for all citizens to protect Nigeria’s nascent democracy
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Language has been used by man for numerous activities in the society. As an instrument of communication, language may be used to influence personality, declare war, oppose ideas, intentions and actions. It could also be used to scatter, condemn, generate violence, entertain, inspire, educate, establish cordial relationship, settle disputes, and make peace with people or communities (Oyebode, 2012:4). Human beings and language cannot be separated from each other in society. Created as social beings, people need a language to communicate and to build a relationship with each other in social interaction. In this interaction, language becomes the primary means of communication. By using language, they reveal their ideas, express their happiness and sadness, make a joke with others, give information, command someone to do something, influence someone and etc. According to Taylor and Taylor (2010:5), a language is a system of signs used to convey messages. By uttering language, either spoken or written, people deliver their thought from one person to another. Hence, language becomes an important thing in daily communication, as a medium of transferring and receiving meaning. In other words, language becomes a means of communication since it is needed to create a good relationship with others. Therefore, if people want to avoid misinterpretation, they should know the meaning of the utterance that they use in verbal interaction In delivering their purposes, people use spoken language. By using spoken language, people can communicate efficiently. They can directly deliver their intention to others. Although people use spoken language to communicate efficiently, their utterances usually have a wider range of meaning than its simply a literal meaning. This is mostly influenced by the context when the speech occurred. In some cases, it is very important to understand the relation between the meaning of one sentence and another, since it may cause misunderstanding. A speaker may say, “It is nice to have a cup of coffee. In this sentence, the speaker wants someone to make a cup of coffee or an invitation based on the context. To achieve their goals, people do not only say something but also insert an action embedded in their utterances
