Language of Politics in Multilingual and Multi-Ethnic Nations: The Nigerian Example (original) (raw)

Abstract: Multilingual countries are characterized by ethnocentric/hegemonic tendencies when the language employed during political engagements in such countries seek to divide rather than unite the diverse language groups in the country. The focus of this paper is to present to the fore the inevitable need of employing the potency of language in alleviating the various challenges that have been caused by hitherto what the author considers to be negligence for the use of language as a viable means to dousing a riotous and an over-heated polity. This paper also takes a closer look at the language of political interactions as used by politicians to loyal party fans and the public in general. The researcher shall adopt the qualitative research approach and data shall be gotten from major print and broadcast media. The data gotten will be analyzed using the content analysis approach. The results to be gotten from the study is expected to show the role language has played in the politics of multilingual countries.