Diglossia, Social Identity Construct and Political Strategy in Nigeria

Abstract

Diglossia is a linguistic situation, whereby more than one language co-exists in a speech community, such as Nigeria. This situation means that Nigerian politicians need to be able to interact with the masses despite the linguistic plurality of the country. In addition, they need to construct social identities that align with the cultural differences in the country. The aim of this study, therefore, was to discover how diglossia provided Nigerian politicians with the political tool to construct acceptable social identities. Data were collected from the presidential campaign speeches delivered by the current Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the presidential campaign rallies in South-East Nigeria, where Igbo language is the predominant indigenous language used by the inhabitants. Five speeches presented at the rallies in Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Abia, and Ebonyi states were collected from the YouTube channels of Nigerian mainstream media organisations. The speeches were transcribed into texts and qualitatively analysed through the lens of Tajefel and Turner’s Social Identity Theory. Findings revealed that the president assumed social identities that shifted from his original identities based on his ethnicity, culture, religion, age, and social class. He constructed these identities with Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin, and Christian collocations presented in English. The study concluded that diglossia provided Nigerian politicians with the linguistic tool for constructing social identities that enhance their political strategies.