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

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

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.