Discursive construction of ethnicity in the herdsmen and farmers discourse

Abstract

The contact between herdsmen and farmers has a long history in Nigeria. The contact has witnessed harmonious relations over the years until recent events that have been characterised by reports of killing, kidnappings, attacks, etc. in the media. Several efforts have been made to end the conflict between the two groups in the country. Scholars have addressed the conflict from non-linguistic perspectives such as the ecological, political and economic ones. Meanwhile, approaches using linguistic orientation have ignored discursive analysis of ethnic ideologies of the discourse thus undermining a holistic understanding of the conflict. To this end, this study proposes to interrogate ethnic groups’ representation in herdsmen-farmer discourse, as social actors are discursively constructed to project different ideological beliefs in the discourse. The study adopts a content-based and qualitative analytical approach because of an emphasis on context in meaning-making. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is also adopted as a framework for the analysis to unearth what is meant but not explicitly stated in the discourse. Data for the study were collected from four major Nigerian newspapers’ online versions. The study interrogates the relationship between text and context, and identifies different forms of ethnic representation in the discourse. The study identified the Fulani as marauders, troublemakers, agitators, and the Agatu, Yoruba, Ibo and, Tiv as victims. These representations are divisive and can promote ethnic, terrorist and humanitarian ideologies.