Socio-pragmatic analysis of Boko Haram’s language of insurgency in Nigeria: Implications for global peace and security

Abstract

This paper examines Boko Haram’s language of insurgency and its socio-pragmatic implications in the Nigerian and global contexts. Since 2009, this sect has continued to employ periodic statements intended to actualise its sectarian objectives. In this regard, the paper seeks to delineate the communicative character of the language of insurgency and underscore its socio-pragmatic imports as revealed in the speech acts of the sect’s spokespersons. From the theoretical perspective of socio-pragmatics, it analyses the social functions of Boko Haram’s language within the Nigerian context. Specifically, it relies on the Austinian notion of ‘speech act’ to account for the communicative activity of Boko Haram in relation to the illocutionary force of such utterances. The picture, which emerges from the analysis, indicates that the consistent use of carefully chosen words conjures a frightening sense of Armageddon, which is certain to befall Nigeria if the sect’s demands are not met. The perlocutionary act has engendered in Nigerians a forlorn sense of fear on the one hand, and apparent helplessness of the Nigerian government on the other. The paper avers that the parlous security situation summons on the part of Jonathan administration a renewed kind of commitment to a radical overhaul of the nation’s security agencies with a view to repositioning them to effectively grapple with the emergent security challenges.