Nigerian Democracy and the Use of Political Language

Abstract

The 2015 and 2019 general elections have come and gone. Those elections nearly broke up Nigeria as a political entity. Reason: the appalling atmosphere of rancour, abuses, curses and ill feelings that had characterised the electioneering campaigns. What was noteworthy was the use of language, especially during political campaigns, by politicians to rally round sympathizers and supporters. More than often, the political language left much to be desired: indecent, abusive words and expressions were the order of the day so much so that waves of tension, hatred and envy heated the socio-political ambience with pre, on and post-election violence and destruction of lives and properties. Since th1qen, language decorum has been thrown overboard as it has now given room for all sorts of language misguidance and rascal expressions from all and sundry. Today, the orthodox and social media have become the hubs of the tagged ‘hate speech’ with its protagonists and antagonists holding sway.  As the next elections are scheduled for 2023, there arises the urgent need and deed to re-orientate the minds of the political leadership and followership, to subject them to language decorum, values and culture, processes and usages for a more acceptable attitude, vision and performance in the practice of democracy. This paper sets out to mobilise and sensitise political umpires, commentators, analysts and observers to the ideals of continental language in politics and press for its implementation to safeguard Nigeria’s evolving democratic process from imminent dangers and calamities.