Linguistic Choices as Conveyors of Social Activism in the Tweets of Nigerian #EndBadGovernance Protesters

Protests, a site for venting dissenting voices, have attracted commendable scholarly patronage in Africa. Studies in this regard have predominantly probed the recurring tropes and trajectories in protests. However, the contextual roles of linguistic choices in constructing the themes and dissenting voices in the tweets of Nigerian #EndBadGovernance protesters remain underreported. Drawing insights from van Dijk’s model of critical discourse analysis, 110 purposively selected tweets were discursively examined. Four dominant themes are expressed in the voices of the protesters: expression of economic hardship, articulation of frustration and anguish, projection of insecurity and safety, and call for reform. Three motivations for the deployment of linguistic choices are identified: to express inclusive activism, to construct digital activism and to express group resistance. Pronominal, nominal, adjectival and historical allusions are adopted to express inclusive activism, while nominal and verbal choices are used to project digital resistance. Group resistance is contextually projected through nominal, verbal and image-evoking metaphors. The linguistic choices adopted in the sampled tweets project nationalism, populism, anti-authoritarianism, civic engagement and dissent. The study notes that the tweets of the protesters are framed to express solidarity, support, awareness and consciousness.