A Critical Discourse Analysis of Ideologies in Twitter Posts on #EndSARS and Nigeria's 2023 General Elections

Abstract

Nigerian youths have at various times embarked and participated in
protests to register their displeasure at some government policies
through engaging in physical and media movements. For example,
'Occupy Nigeria' one of the notable protests, was staged by these youth
to protest the proposed increment in the prices of petroleum products by
physically occupying streets and government facilities in 2012
following the design of Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.
Another prominent protest, #endSARS in 2020 was staged by the
youths in virtually all the states of Nigeria over police manhandling of
citizens. It is adjudged to be a coordinated protest which involved most
Nigerian youths. Police brutality on Nigerians has increased
exponentially leading to extra-judicial killings in some instances.
Public outcries against the excesses of the police have gone unheeded.
In order to pacify the public, the police authorities had at various times
in the past announced the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) in principle. This study critically examines the discourse
of posts by Nigerian youths resident in the country on Twitter in the
#endSARS protests of 2020 and its implications for the 2023 general elections. Data analysis is based on van Dijk's ideological discourse
analysis. Findings reveal the use of a variety of discursive structures and
strategies to express ideological beliefs based on negative
lexicalization, hyperbole, compassion, apparent altruism, apparent
honesty, negative comparison, warning, and norm and value violation
among others.