Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria

Volume 21 Number 1, 2019

ISSN: 0029-0009

Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria

Volume 21 Number 1, 2019

ISSN: 0029‐0009

Published by the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN)

© 2019 by the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be produced by any form, electronic or mechanical, manual including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher

Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (JESAN) Price: Nigeria - N1000.00; Outside Nigeria $10 excluding postage

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Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria ISSN 0029-0009 Volume 21 Number 1, 2019 Published by the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN)

Editor: Professor 'Rotimi Taiwo Department of English Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria [email protected]

Assistant Editor: Dr Kehinde A. Ayoola, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Editorial Advisers Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Prof. Munzali Jibril, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria Prof. Edmund Bamiro, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria Prof. David Jowitt, University of Jos, Nigeria Prof. (Mrs) Inyang Udofot, University of Uyo, Nigeria Prof. (Mrs) Asabe Kabir Usman, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria Prof. Wale Adegbite, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Prof. Ulrike Gut, University of Munster, Germany Prof. David Crystal, University of Wales, Bangor, UK Prof Sam Onuigbo, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Prof E. J. Otagburuagu, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Prof Tajudeen Surakat, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

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Editorial General Information Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (JESAN)

The aim of the Association is to promote the study and teaching of English Language and Literature in English in a style that is relevant to Nigeria’s needs.

The journal is published twice a year in June and September. Membership of the Association is by enrolment with N5,000 for individuals and N10,000 for institutions, renewable yearly. It is open to all Nigerians whose field of specialisation is English and other nationals who are engaged in English teaching or are connected with the stated aims of the association either as individuals or institutions. Students are accepted as associate members with N1,000 enrolment fee.

Guide for Authors Manuscript Preparation . The Manuscript should be submitted in Microsoft Word Format, Times New Roman 12 point. . It should be double-spaced throughout and with 3cm for left and right as well as head and foot margins. . A manuscript should not exceed 8,000 words including the abstract, endnotes and references. . Authors should note that their submission should not be any material previously published or before another journal for consideration Title . Create a separate title page which should contain author information (Author(s) name(s) - in the order of first name(s) and last name, no initials please; affiliation, contact email and phone number) . The title of the manuscript should be concise and informative. Note that titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. . There should be no end marks in the title of the manuscript. . Please capitalize the first letter in each word of the title, except the function words or proper nouns.

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. Titles, such as Dr, Prof should not be included in the name of the author. . Avoid abbreviations and formulae in the title where possible. Authorship . Indicate the corresponding author, where there are multiple authors. . In a separate sheet, please provide the complete postal address(es) and short bio-data of about 150 words of the author(s)

Abstract and Keywords . Every manuscript should have a concise abstract of about 250 words, stating briefly the purpose of the paper, the methods, the major results and conclusions. . Provide not less than 4 - 6 keywords immediately after the abstract. Title and Subheadings . Title and subheadings should be in title case and should be brief and clear. . Do not number headings and subheadings.

Referencing . Ensure that all in-text references are presented in the reference list. . Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. . Papers in language should use the APA referencing style (please get conversant with the most recent referencing format), For example:

Journal publication by a single or multiple authors: Taiwo, R. (2016). Cognitive Verbs and Stance Taking In Nigerian Jobs and Careers Portals Online. Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, Vol. 27, 2016, 1-19. Odebunmi, A. (2013). “Multiple Codes, Multiple Impressions: An Analysis of Doctor-client encounters in Nigeria”. Multilingual 32 (3): 373-403.

Authored Book

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Gut Ulrike. (2009). Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Akindele, F & Adegbite, W. (1999). The Sociology and Politics of English Language in Nigeria. Ile-Ife Obafemi Awolowo University Press.

Chapter in an Edited Book Foucault, M. (1991a) ‘Politics and the Study of Discourse’, in G. Burchell, C. Gordon and P.H. Miller (eds). The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, pp. 53–72. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf. Authors in literature and literary studies should adopt the MLA style. For more details please consult the current referencing formats of APA and MLA. . Endnotes are optional and should be used sparingly. Acknowledgements and funding information should come immediately after the main text before the endnotes (where applicable).

Manuscript Submission Manuscripts should be sent as an email attachment to the Editor through: [email protected]

Figures and Tables . A caption should be given to each figure and table and be placed immediately beneath them. Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript using the single-number system, such as: Figure 1, Table 2 …

Quotation and Fragments  Quotations of text fragments from other languages should be accompanied with an English translation  Quotations are to be cited in single inverted commas with indications, where appropriate, of any omission, added emphasis, or other alteration to the original.  Quotations more than 4 lines should be indented and typed in single line spacing without quotation marks.

Illustrations, figures, graphics and tables should appear in the body of the manuscript where the author wants them. Tables and

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figures should have short descriptive titles. The journal would prefer tables and figures rather than artworks.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Emerging Trends in Cultures and Identities in English Studies in Nigeria – Rotimi Taiwo 9

Language and Identity: Pentecostalism and Glocalising of Personal Names among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria – Ngozi U. Emeka‐Nwobia, Sam Onuigbo, & M.C. Ogayi 22

'Mr Chairman Sir': Deference Markers in Nigerian Investigative Public Hearings – Foluke Unuabonah 45

An Exploration of Ecocritical Agenda in Ebinyo Ogbowei’s “Vultures” and “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps” – Okafor Adachukwu Amalachukwu 64

A Socio-Semiotic Study of the Meaning Potentials in Hash Tagged- Messages in Placards of Killings in Benue State, Nigeria – Ugoala Bibian & Yakubu Anthonia 79

A Phonological Précis of Nigerian Pidgin English – Taiwo Soneye 103

Conflict and Violence in Ikerionwu and Obaje’s Echoes of Conspiracy – Elegba Florence Adedoja 133

Deixis as a Discourse Strategy in Police-Suspect Interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria – Akinrinlola Temidayo 148

Music and Social Transition: A Stylistic Analysis of Safe Journey – Maryam Titilope Gobir & Ife Ajepe 169

Nigerian English and Nigeria’s National Language Question: Prospects and Constraints – Chidimma Ugomma Emea Inyima 184

Contextual Elision in Educated Yoruba English – Faleye James Oladunjoye 211

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Emerging Trends in Cultures and Identities in English Studies in Nigeria1

Rotimi Taiwo Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife [email protected]

Abstract This paper examines the critical issues that arise from the innovative ways English is being used and how these impact on cultural identities in non-native contexts, such as Nigeria. Such issues include the suppression of simultaneous bilingualism and the emergence of subtractive bilingualism; the new writing culture and the stylistic demands of language use in virtual communication; creativity and the expression of cultural and identity values in English through African literatures and the implications of these emerging trends for English Studies in non-native contexts. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the trends in production, consumption, representation of cultures and identities and suggests that these emerging trends should greatly influence how we conceive, design and select resources for our digital native students, in English language, Literature in English and the Use of English.

Introduction One major factor that that has influenced the evolution of English language is globalisation, which has been accelerated by new technologies. These technologies are changing every aspects of our lives, bringing about cultural changes and new ways of constructing identities globally. Therefore, the theme of this conference 'Emerging Trends in Cultures and Identities in English Studies', is coming at the right time when linguists are focusing attention on the emergence of modern technologies and the tremendous impact they have on languages across the globe. In this paper, I am particularly interested

1 A Keynote Paper Delivered at the 34th ESAN Conference held at Nsukka.

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in the construction and representation of cultures and identities in the non-native context, where we operate and how this affect our discipline. Four major concepts can be clearly identified in the Conference theme: 'emerging trends', 'cultures', 'identities' and 'English Studies'. As English scholars, emerging trends simply indicates practices that are visible or apparent to us and that we consider worthy of being investigated. Such emerging practices are quite numerous and one conference may not be able to capture them all. However, our scope of investigation, which has been spelt out, will only be limited to the realms of cultures and identities in English Studies in Nigeria. Nigerians, like people elsewhere, naturally project their cultures and identities through language. However, of particular importance to us is the projection of culture and identity in a language other than one's 'primary language' or the 'language of immediate environment'. The focus of investigation in this paper therefore will be on how do these emerging trends in the macro aspects of language affect our practices as teachers and researchers of English Studies in this country. Culture and identity are closely inter-related. Every time a language is used, it is used as a means of communicating values, beliefs and customs of the user. Language users are defined as members of a range of social groups which could be voluntary or involuntary; vertical or horizontal, such as race, gender, nationality, age, class, religion and so forth. Culture is a representation of shared thoughts, feelings, values, attitudes, general dispositions or other set of practices of a people through sounds, and symbols, such as language, literature, music and the arts generally. People who belong to the same culture often have similar conception, production and interpretation of meanings. Identities on the other hand are formed on the basis of social practices. For instance, when people interact, they produce meanings, incorporate and consume different events, which regulate them according to the social context. Hall (1997) in connecting identity and culture, identifies what he calls the 'circuit of culture', which consists of five moments: production, consumption, representation, regulation and identity. These moments explain the process of producing meaning in a culture.

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Production is the creation of a special meaning for an object; consumption is the internalising of the meaning produced; representation is the regulation of the right uses of the meaning to its context and its introduction to others; and identity has to do with when the object becomes a means of identifying the group. Identity is relational, that is, it is formed as meaning when it is constructed and represented to others through words, sounds, colours and gestures (Woodword, 1997). Identity formation is a long and complicated process which is gradually developed in social surroundings. There is no starting or finishing point in this circuit because meanings are produced synergistically. Current research efforts on language, culture and identity are concerned with the ways individuals use language to co-construct their everyday worlds and, in particular, their own social roles and identities and those of others. For many scholars, identity is multiple and varied, individual representations of which embody particular social histories that are built up through and continually recreated in one’s everyday experiences (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005). Individuals take on a variety of identities, and these identities are not fixed but rather ‘multifaceted in complex and contradictory ways; tied to social practice and interaction as flexible and contextually contingent resources; and tied to processes of differentiation from other identified groups’ (Miller, 2000: 72). Representation by language is central to the process of producing meaning because language constructs the meanings of different objects. It therefore presents a general frame of how representation and culture works. The geographical region of our birth naturally makes us members of a particular ethnic linguistic group which in turn makes us assume specific identities. There are also other layers of specific group membership which we acquire through our involvement in the various activities of the social institutions within our communities - church, family and the workplace. When people use languages other than their mother tongue, such as English in the case of Nigeria, it defines them as members of a group with distinct culture and identity. This means that the kinds of English people speak in different parts of the world essentially reflect their cultures and identities. It is in consonance with this understanding that scholars have come to identify the domesticated varieties of English in the different regions of the world colonised by the British.

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Evidence of lexical and structural and phonological deviations from the native English speaker norms have been documented by scholars of Nigerian English (Odumuh, 1981; Adegbija, 1989; Jowitt, 1991; Bamiro, 1994; Banjo, 1996; Udofot, 1997; Eka, 2003; Adegbija, 2004; Gut, 2004; Igboanusi, 2007; Ugorji 2010; Taiwo, 2012). English language, which came to Nigeria through the colonialists, has now been firmly rooted in the country as a language that performs a variety of functions far more than those any of the indigenous languages perform. While the indigenous languages are mostly restricted to specific geographical areas of the country, English is used for inter-ethnic as well as intra-ethnic communication. For instance, in contemporary Nigeria, English functions as the medium of expression in politics, religion, education, entertainment, the media, commerce, family interactions, casual conversations, and so forth. The language has been invested with so much cultural power that it has been developed as a tool for expressing the values, beliefs, and attitudes, which are significant to the development of the peoples' social identities. Adamo captures the Nigerian experience this way:

Nigerians have striven so diligently to nativize English, not only because it has come into contact with the indigenous languages, but more importantly because they are eager to bring themselves out of the linguistic polythene bag in which for decades they have been sealed. It is a quest for an avenue to give an outward manifestation of their spirit and to express their social, cultural and national identity. (Adamo, 2007: 46)

From the foregoing, English can no longer be referred to just as the language of the British colonialists, but as a Nigerian language. Its popular use in the country reflects essentially Nigerian elements because of its assumption and assimilation of the characteristics of the Nigerian socio-cultural and sociolinguistic experience. Chinua Achebe further lends credence to this in his popular expression ''I think that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. However, it will have to be a new English, still in full harmony with its ancestral home but altered to fit its new African surroundings." Nigerian English is therefore the 'home grown' English that expresses our ''numerous conveniences, experiences, nuances and sensibilities” (Adegbija, 2004: 20). Akere (2009: 3), identifies

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domestication of English in Nigeria as ‘the transformation of English as an alien medium, to make it respond to local imagery, figures of speech, sound patterns and the general cultural milieu of the region’. Bilingualism One of the emerging trends in Nigeria is the state of bilingualism in which children who are supposed to be simultaneous bilinguals - children exposed to two languages during infancy and early childhood (Petterson, 2002) are becoming subtractive bilinguals - children whose second language displaces the first one (Cummins, 2000). This reality of our contemporary linguistic situation in which children, mostly ones that grow in the urban areas acquire English as their first language calls for attention. The implication of this trend is that the natural first language is being displaced and the culture being eclipsed by the supposed second language. Subtractive bilingualism ordinarily should be a common feature among children whose parents migrated to a foreign country when they were young, and orphans who are deprived of their first language input, however, it is becoming a norm in Nigeria in spite of the availability of numerous native languages and opportunities for children to acquire them. This practice clearly amounts to a deprivation of the indigenous languages of their place in the Nigerian linguistic ecosystem. In the kind of situation painted above, our interest lies in how cultures and identities are expressed and the implications of this new trend for the study of English in Nigeria. Knowing very well that the subjects we are dealing with now operate a hybrid culture in which they try to socialise into native speaker linguistic practices in a context where English is a Second Language. Examining this trend from different perspectives and showing first how children who have grown in this contemporary practice express their cultures, construct and represent their identities and how we as scholars in English studies can design our approaches to adequately take care of their needs is our focus in this paper.

English Language and the New Media One of the most visible areas that signify the transformation of cultural values and increasing quest for new identities in contemporary world is the discursive practices in the new media. A well-known advantage of the new media technology is their ability to

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make it possible for users to virtually socialise. Prior to the advent of social media, public discourse was socially controlled by those van Dijk (1989) describes as ''the symbolic elites" such as journalists, writers, artists, directors, academics, and other groups that exercise power in discourse. According to him, ''the powerless have literally 'nothing to say,' nobody to talk to, or must remain silent when more powerful people are speaking" (van Dijk, 1989: 21). This then underscores the connection between discourse and power - the symbolic elites, the powerful would naturally control both the financial and the technological production conditions of discourse. For instance, those of the newspaper, television, printing business, as well as the telecommunication and computer industries (Becker, Hedebro, & Paldán, 1986; Schiller, 1973). The various platforms provided by the new media have enabled the democratisation of public space. The complete liberalisation of information and communication in the digital age has kept the youth at the epicentre of media landscape. As active participants in the new digital culture, they are launching their own online enterprises through the development of websites, personal online diaries, discussion groups and blogs, thereby forging a new set of cultural practices (Montgomery, 2008). Apart from the impacts of these new technological developments on the nature and extent of civic and political discourse in the new digital media culture, discursive practices in them have far- reaching effect on the English Studies. Since the digital media are the driving force for sociality among the people we teach, how do we ensure that we tailor our curriculum and methods towards meeting the needs of the digital generation? How do we handle the emerging range of linguistic innovations, the distinct variety constrained by the properties of the Internet and mobile technology software and hardware linking them? How do we encourage creativity, which digital communication fosters without compromising linguistic competence? As we are faced with the challenge of understanding the nature of the emerging context of language use and the new writing culture our learners are being exposed to daily, one of the most important duties of the language teacher in this century is to guide the

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learners on the disparity in the contextual and stylistic demands of language use in virtual communication and normal daily offline communication (Taiwo, 2007, 2013).

Language in Literary Creativity The domestication of English is a clear quest for identity not only for the casual users of the language, but also for the creative writers. According to Ajidahun (2014: 83 ff), domestication ''also gives the Nigerian artists the poetic licence to manipulate and manoeuvre the English language to project their ideological leanings and dramaturgy using their creative and linguistic tools cleverly, deftly and opportunistically.'' Nigerian literary writers such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi and several other postcolonial writers have developed unique creative styles using different forms of domesticated English to convey their messages. According to Ayo Kehinde, "many postcolonial writers are trying to overturn the assumptions of cultural and racial inferiority imposed by the colonizers and foolishly accepted by the colonized" (2009:76). He further asserts that nativisation of the English language in postcolonial literary texts is a way of portraying to the colonisers that these writers see nothing demeaning about their cultures and they are proud to document their world views for the global readers. The language debate in postcolonial texts dates back to Obi Wali's article titled "The Dead End of African Literature", in which he argued that the whole uncritical acceptance of English and French as the inevitable medium for educated African writing, is misdirected, and has no chance of advancing African literature and culture. In addition, he sounded a note of warning when he opined that "African languages would face inevitable extinction, if they do not embody some kind of intelligent literature, and the only way to hasten this, is by continuing in our present illusion that we can produce African literature in English and French." Since then, scholars of African literature have been engaged in a robust discourse on this subject. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, following similar thoughts as Wali, has advocated a linguistic decolonisation of African literature, expressing preference for indigenous languages as a literary or scholarly

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medium. In his seminal work: Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, he posits that “Literature written by Africans in European languages… can only be termed Afro-European literature; that is, the literature written by Africans in European languages” (1986: 27). He argues further that using indigenous languages in African literary works will be a liberating venture which will enables Africans to see themselves more visibly in relationship to themselves and to other selves in the universe. Several other African literary writers like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe have shown that colonial languages, such as English can be appropriated, reformed and indigenised in literary writings. By doing so, they are constructing distinct identities as African writers. Achebe expresses his conviction in the quotation below:

The African writer should aim to use English in a way that brings out his message best without altering the language to the extent that its value as a medium of international exchange will be lost. He should aim at fashioning out an English which is at once universal and able to carry his peculiar experience ... but it will have to be a new English still in full communion with its ancestral home, but altered to suit its new African surroundings (Achebe, 1976: 62)

Writers of national literatures will continue express their cultures and identities by adjusting the standard norms of English language in order to compel it to blend with their environment in postcolonial Africa. The ability of African creative writers to adapt and blend English to African environment – their ingenious, pragmatic, innovative, skilful and imaginative use of English – gives unique identity to African literature. The question to ask ourselves as scholars of English is: what are the implications of all these for our practice - teaching and researching English?

English Studies in Nigeria: Issues, Prospect and Implications of Emerging Trends English studies according to Afolayan (1979: 1) is "the academic pursuit or the search for, or research for truth about the most ubiquitous tool for human interaction in today's world". There is no

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doubt that for us as scholars to make any meaningful impact in our practices, we need to conceive English Studies within the linguistic situation prevalent in our context. The difference in the experience of English speakers in Nigeria when compared to that of the native speaker cannot be ignored if we are to do justice to English Studies in the country. Afolayan (1979) further corroborates this.

It is true that white Englishmen in England acquire the English language and that the black Africans in Africa do so too. However, while the white Englishmen in England learn it naturally, the black Africans in Africa must forever do so artificially; and while it is the best achievement and the best key to native originality, inventiveness and accomplishment of the white Englishmen in England, it can only remain the true second best achievement and true second best key to native originality, inventiveness and accomplishment of the black Africans in Africa. (p. 2)

In spite of the increase in subtractive bilinguals in contemporary Nigeria due to the ubiquitous use of English for communication in virtually all domains of language use, it is quite obvious to us as scholars that our unique context will forever shape our conception, acquisition, learning and use of the language. English Studies at the tertiary level, where most of us operate has three major components: English language, Literature and Use of English. The English language component according to Afolayan, applies analytic and descriptive methods, skills and processes of general linguistics to English, with the goal of gaining knowledge on how language is structured, how it functions and how people utilise in their everyday living. The literature component imparts knowledge of African, English and other literatures to the students with the goals of helping them to appreciate the aesthetic and other values of literature, thereby stimulating in them the habit of critical thinking; helping them to link literature with other cultural forms in both African and other societies and appreciating the role of literature in cultural and national development. Use of English focuses mainly on the

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acquisition of the necessary skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing, in language performance in different contexts for all students regardless of their disciplines in our institutions. Such skills include ones needed to perform in an English-speaking academic context, such as: note taking skills, academic vocabulary usage, critical reading and complex writing skills, comprehending academic lectures, research and library skills, formal composition forms and development, including research papers. Trends in production, consumption, representation of cultures and identities have shown that scholars of English Studies should have a rethink of how we handle the three components identified above. According to Beavis (2010), the definition of literacy has expanded in the 21st century to refer to a flexible, sustainable command of a set of capabilities in the use and production of traditional texts and new communications technologies, using spoken language, print and multimedia. The shift we have had in the last decades from page to screen and chalk to power point, should greatly influence how we conceive, design and select resources for our students, who are mostly digital natives, having been raised in digital environment. New technologies have been a defining feature in the lives of younger generations in a way that they predict a fundamental change in the way young people communicate, socialize, create and learn (Cut, 2017). Apart from the trend in the acquisition of English as the first language of contemporary young Nigerians, they are also a generation of people who are “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet, which essentially define their world. In addition to transforming broader social processes, new technologies have impacted the behaviour of young people and how they construct their identities. Schlegel (2017) observes that digital natives are more likely to construct their identity based on a virtual community. The young learners we deal with are increasingly embracing the virtual world as a means to explore their identity in creative and new ways, asserting their sense of self in a highly personal form, customising their sites with unique photos, text, tags and avatars (Cheng, Farnham, & Stone, 2002). We therefore need more understanding about the progression of identity development in a virtual world to be able to make appreciable impact on our students as well as conduct the kind of

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research in English Studies that will be relevant to our time. It is important to create more fora, such as workshops, seminars and conferences for teachers of English to discuss various issues bordering on how the emerging cultures and identities can shape the study of English as a discipline in Nigeria. As teachers of English it has been generally observed that contemporary students of English may appear to be more competent in the spoken aspect than writing. The reason for this may not be too far-fetched considering the natural technicalities involved in writing. Writing is a major skill our students need if they are to be successful in their academic pursuit. Training and engaging students in writing is becoming harder for English Studies experts in the context of the growing enrolment in our institutions. In the digital age context when the culture of writing is almost becoming a secondary thing, we need to consciously train our students to write effectively, not just for academic purposes, but also for several other specific purposes. Teachers must enhance their teaching through the use of the modern technologies we have all around us.

References Achebe, C. (1978). The Role of the Writer in a New Nation. In: G.D. Killam (ed.), African Writers on African Writing. London: Heinemann. Adamo, E.A. (2007). Nigerian English: Is it - Can It be - Part of the Quest for Cultural Expression and Identity. English Today, 23(1), pp 42 - 47 doi:10.1017/ S0266078407001083 Adegbija, E. (2004). ‘The domestication of English in Nigeria.’ In Domestication of English in Nigeria: A Festschrift in Honour of Abiodun Adetugbo, eds. Awonusi Segun & E. A. Babalola. Lagos: University of Lagos Press. Afolayan, A. (1979). Problems, Principles and Prospects of English Studies in an African University. Inaugural Lecture Series 38, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Ajidahun, C.O. (2014) Domestication of English in Femi Osofisan’s Drama: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, Vol. 24, 82 - 95. Bamiro, E. (1994). ''Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English'', World Englishes 13(1): 47–60.

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Banjo, A. (1996). Making a Virtue of Necessity: An Overview of the English Language in Nigeria: Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. Beavis, C. (2010). English in the Digital Age: Making English Digital. English in Australia, 45(2), 21-30. Becker, J., Hedebro, G., & Paldán (Eds.). (1986). Communication and Domination: Essays to Honor Herbert 1. Schiller. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bucholtz, M., and Hall, K.(2004). Language and identity relations. In A. Duranti (Ed.), A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (pp. 369-394). MA: Blackwell. Cut, M. (2017). Digital natives and digital immigrants — how are they different. Retrieved 17th September, 2018 from: https://medium.com/digital- reflections/digital-natives- and-digital-immigrants-how-are-they-different- e849b0a8a1d3 Gut, U. (2004). Nigerian English: Phonology. In: Edgar W. Schneider, Kate Burridge, Bernd Kortmann, Rajend Mesthrie, and Clive Upton (eds.), A Handbook of Varieties of English, 813–829. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Hall, J. K. (2012). Teaching and Researching: Language and Culture, 2nd Edition. London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis. Igboanusi, H. (2007). Syntactic innovation processes in Nigerian English. Studia Anglica Posnaniesia 42: 293–404. Jowitt, D. (1991). Nigerian English Usage: An Introduction. Lagos: Longmans Nigeria. Kehinde, A. (2009). English and the postcolonial writer's burden: Linguistic innovations in Femi Fatoba's My 'Older' Father and Other Stories. Journal of African Cultural Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, 75-89 Montgomery, K. C. (2008). Youth and digital democracy: Intersections of practice, policy, and the marketplace. In W. L. Bennett (Ed.), The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Civic Life Online: Learning how Digital Media can Engage Youth (pp. 25-49). Cambridge, MA, US: MIT Press.

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Ngugï wa Thiong'o. (2002). Europhonism, Universities, and the Magic Fountain: The Future of African Literature and Scholarship. Research in African Literatures, 3, No. 1: 1-11. Odumuh, A. (1981). Aspects of the Semantics and Syntax of "Educated Nigerian English". Ph.D. Dissertation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Okoro, Oko (2017). "Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III: Pronunciation" (PDF). California Linguistic Notes. 41: 26–62. Patterson J. L. (2002). Relationships of expressive vocabulary to frequency of reading and television experience among bilingual toddlers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23, 493–508. Schlegel, L. (2017). Digital natives and online identity construction: How does the internet facilitate radicalization? Wissenschaft & Sicherhei, 2, 2-10. Schiller, H. L (1973). The mind Managers. Boston: Beacon Press. Taiwo, R. (2007). Tenor in electronic media Christian discourse in South Western Nigeria. Nordic Journal of African Studies, Vol.16 no. 1, 75-89. Taiwo, R. (2012). “Nigerian English”, in Bernd Kortmann & Kerstin Lunkenheimer (Eds.) The Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English, Mouton de Gruyter, 410 - 416. Taiwo, R. (2013) English Language Teaching and 21st Century Teacher Competencies, English Language Teaching Today, A Journal of English and Communication Skills, 10 (1), 1-8. Tomori, S.H.O. (1967). A study in the syntactic structures of the written English of British and Nigerian grammar school pupils. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Ibadan. Udofot, Inyang (1997). The rhythm of spoken Nigerian English. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Uyo, Nigeria. Ugorji, C.U.C. (2010). New Englishes in diachronic light: evidence from Nigerian English phonology. The International Journal of Language Society and Culture 30: 131–141. van Dijk, Teun A. (1989): "Structure of Discourse and Structure of Power". In: Anderson, James A. (ed.): Communication Yearbook 12. Newbury Park, CA, Sage: 18–59. Wali, Obiajunwa. “The Dead End of African Literature." Transition 10(1963):13- 15. Woodword, K. (1997). Identity and Difference. London: Sage

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Language and Identity: Pentecostalism and Glocalising of Personal Names among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria

Ngozi U. Emeka‐Nwobia Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki

Sam Onuigbo University of Nigeria, Nsukka

M.C. Ogayi Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki

Abstract Applying Fishman’s (2006) principle of Sociology of Language and Religion and Castell (1997)’s Identity theory, the paper explores the nexus between Pentecostalism as a subculture and its effect on personal names as a linguistic resource for identity construction. A total of 350 names were collected from the following sources: Class list of two mission schools Kingdom Heritage School (owned by the Living Faith Church) and Redeemers International School (owned by the Redeemed Christian Church of God ) basic schools; Sunday school; youth fellowship and elders’ council membership lists of the two Pentecostal churches, in Enugu and Abakaliki metropolis (Igbo speaking areas in South-eastern Nigeria). Findings reveal a shift from Old English/Baptismal names, as well as Igbo traditional names that reflect the linguistic and geographical information of the name giver/bearer. There is growing linguistic preference for names coded in English forms but with retention of localised and indigenous thought patterns, thus a reflection of glocalised identity. Keywords: Identity, Pentecostalism, Glocalisation, Personal names, Igbo

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Introduction Despite the universality of naming practice, the process and value given to name and naming is culture dependent. The main essence of names and naming is for identity. Names therefore are identity codes, tags and appellations (Agyekum 2006). Beyond mere tags or labels, personal names convey information on the collective history, culture and world view of a people; the experience(s) of the name giver and his expectations for the name bearer. Names are forms of identity that defines whom we are and singles one out from others (Joseph 2004). In Africa, in particular, names are not just mere appellations or tags of identity; they tell stories about the individual and collective identity of the bearer and the giver, as well as the intention, experiences, expectation, belief and encounter with the Supreme Being (Ubahakwe 1982; Onukawa 2002; Mphande 2006; Agyyekum 2006). Chinua Achebe (1966) notes that personal names are full-length philosophical statements about the bearer or giver. In his study of the culture content of Igbo name, Ubahakwe (1982:27) observes that “an indigenous African name on the whole personifies the individual, tells some story about the parents and/or the family of the bearer; and in a more general sense, points to the values of the society into which the individual is born”. Names are contextualised to reflect the socio-cultural value of the giver/bearer. Chiluwa (2010) while exploring naming among Christian Charismatic Movements in Nigeria, notes that personal names in African context are filled with presumptions. For instance, the name, God’s time is the best is a circumstantial name which presupposes a long period of waiting to conceive or bear a child by a parent. It could also be that the parents had recorded birth of several girls before the arrival of the new baby who is named such. The name Preserve on the other hand signals series of dangers which the family must have faced before the arrival of the baby. The name therefore is a call on God to preserve the child and the family from evil. Mazrui (1987:253) discussing the relationship between personal names and identity notes that “Personal names are

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inseparable from the issue of identity”. They contain information on the structures and processes of a given language (Mphande 2006); as well as transmit linguistic, philosophical and geographical information of the name giver or bearer. They are packed with information on the name bearer/giver’s socio-cultural, religion ideologies and identities. In spite of the generality of characteristic and value placed on names in Africa, the practices and conventions vary from one African culture to another. Typically, among the Yoruba and some Igbo societies in Nigeria, child naming is performed on the eighth day of birth and the names given may reflect the day the child was born. This convention is also popular among Nigerian Pentecostals. The naming ceremony is usually performed by the parents of the child and it is one of the important rites of passages. Interestingly, the process of globalisation does not only strive to impose a uniform culture and language on the people but also impose a new explanation on the concept of localization, thus the hybridised terminology “Glocalisation”. The term glocalisation is a portmanteau term generated from the combination of two terms globalization and localization. It is used in this paper to refer to the hybridisation of personal names done by the Nigeria Pentecostals through the use of English language codes (glocalised identity) and with the retention of indigenous sense (localised/indigenized identity). Chiluwa (2010:235) referred to it as “English (European) in form, but African in content”. Fishman (2006: 19) in his Decalogue of the principles for the sociology of language and religion as a discipline, notes that ‘each case of language spread or functional elevation is simultaneously a case of social change, social dislocation and language shift in many socio- cultural functions, even before such shift occurs in religious functions per se’. This therefore is a call according to Omoniyi (2010: 206) to challenges further probe into the “character of social change; behaviours, attitudes and practices, the circumstances that shape them, whether and how such changes extend to religion and its

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practice, the forms they take, and how all of these then are reflected in language”. The present paper explores the direction of change in the names and naming pattern of the Nigerian Pentecostal churches of which there has been permeation of these names beyond the Pentecostal space to the orthodox and secular spaces; the adoption of English language in the Pentecostal churches as the pulpit language and language of discourse by majority of Pentecostal worshippers, who are predominantly youths. It is against this background that the paper explores naming trends among Nigerian Pentecostals, with special focus on South-eastern Nigeria (Igbo speaking society). It specifically examines the effect of Pentecostalism as a subculture, on personal names as a linguistic resource for identity construction, shapes and appearances of Pentecostal names and identities, the motivation for the trend and implication on language/cultural shift among the youth/young population of Nigerian language speakers.

Pentecostalism in Nigeria as a Subculture Pentecostalism is one of the largest religious movements in contemporary world, and at least 11% of the African’s total population are believed to belong to the Pentecostal church (Miller 2013). In Nigeria, members of the Pentecostal churches are numerically significant, and cut across socio-political and economic classes. Since the last quarter of the 20th century, the religious landscape in Nigeria has been radically transformed by the evolution and rise of ‘new generation’ churches, specifically the Pentecostal which is known for the advancement of the doctrines of prosperity and promotion of spiritual mechanisms of control that offer solutions to life cycle problems (Zink 2012). Its appropriation of new media facilities and spaces (Adeboye 2012) has brought it into a sharper focus and has provoked a variety of narratives on its techniques, impacts, and global implications in the context of local and translocal institutions. Due to increasing economic uncertainty, scarcity, deprivations, frustrations and institutional failure by the government,

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many Nigerians have sought relief in religion which revolves round faith in a supreme being who is claimed to have solutions to all problems (Bloom and J. G. Ottong 1987). Most of these neo-Pentecostal groups stemmed from Nigeria, where they also have their international headquarters. They exert overwhelming influence on the populace due to their styles and dynamics of operation which is not as rigid as the older Christian churches. The message of this new religious movement is creatively patterned to attract greater patronage and participation of worshippers; and offer explanation to every phenomenon from spiritual perspectives. The ambiance that surround their style of worship and ‘infra structural evangelism’, the ranking of their pastors as the richest worldwide have all contributed to the overwhelming success in Africa, especially Nigeria (Forbes 2011, 2015). As a religious movement and subculture, Pentecostals employ distinct language use in their interaction with members and this clearly sets them apart from non-members of the group. Their naming identity, address and greeting pattern and ideological (positive) confessions differentiate them from non-member of the group (Emeka-Nwobia, 2016). Just as a typical speech community may not only speak the same language but have a share value and norms and ideology. Spolsky (2010:24) had viewed a speech community to entail that “all the people who speak a single language (like English or French or Amharic) and so share notions of what is same or different in phonology or grammar”. Duranti (1997: 72) however observed that it refers to “... the real group of people who share something about the way in which they use language, though they differ significantly on the details”. Beyond these views the notion - Pentecostal community/subculture is here used to refer to a group of people who may or may not only speak the same language but have shared values, norms and ideology. Thus, the reference made to Pentecostalism as a subculture with diversities of identities.

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Theoretical framework Just as Fishman’s first principle postulated, language provides a means of identity whereby members of the Pentecostal subculture can be identified even within a larger culture of non-Pentecostals. This accommodates diversities that exist in a ‘multilingual/multi- faith’ setting (See Omoniyi 2006). Nigeria as a multilingual society is characterised by diversities of religion and denominations that make up each of the religious enclave. For instance, the major religions in Nigeria are Christianity, Islam and Indigenous. Each of these religions is made up of exclusive strands which have unique appearances and emphasis. Linguistically, the country has over 500 indigenous languages, of which three have been ascribed the status of regional languages, namely; Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Each of these languages still have diversities of dialects that make them up; and each dialect group are still made up of speech communities which have diversities of identities. Castell (1997) observes that identity is consciously created and negotiated. As such language users consciously select linguistic forms that situate them within the kind of identity they want to be identified with. Issues of identity in multilingual settings are conditioned by social interaction and social structuring. Castell's identity theory captures the nexus in view of accommodation of the concept under study and its comprehensive approach. He however identified three processes of identity formation as: legitimising, resistance and project identities. Legitimizing identity comes from the dominant institutions of society to extend and rationalize their domination vis-à-vis social actors (Castell 2010 :8); resistance identity occurs as resistance to or challenge of the legitimised identity. Project identity involves going beyond resistance to constructs a new identity or redefines identities on based on the cultural materials available to them. To be transformed into a project identity the resistance identity has to go through a deconstruction process. The present world just as identity matrix can no longer be appreciated as a fixed space but rather a flow that transcends territorial enclaves.

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The Data Due to the ethno-linguistic diversities that make up the Nigerian nation, the data used for this paper was drawn from South eastern Nigeria, which is predominantly an Igbo speaking region - with an estimated population of about 20 million speakers (Azuonye 2003). The data was randomly collected from the following sources: Class list of Kingdom Heritage School (owned by the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel) and Redeemers International School (Owned by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)) basic schools in Enugu and Abakaliki metropolis; Sunday school; youth fellowship and elders’ council membership lists. This data collection was necessary to ensure full representation of the age variables within the Pentecostal population. In cases of multiple names, the preferred name or first name was however recorded. A total of 350 names were used for this analysis. The data capture the names that are predominant in the sample population and are classified as follows:

Traditional English / biblical names Judeo identity Ethnic identity Neo-Pentecostal/glocalised names

Table 1: Frequency of occurrence and percentage of each group

Identities Groups Number Percentage Traditional English / Biblical names 38 10.9 % [TREB] Judeo identity [JUDEO] 32 9.1 % Ethnic identity [ETHNC] 93 26.6 % Neo-Pentecostal/ glocalised Identity 187 53.4 % [ GLOCL] Total 350 100 %

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Chart 1: Pie chart representation of the frequency of occurrence Percentage

11% 9% TREB JUDEO 53% ETHNC 27% GLOCL

Traditional English/Biblical names Names in this category are names of biblical prophets, saints and old English names. They reflect religious and traditional English identities. Bearers of these names now prefer to go by their clipped versions in the tradition of Americans who more than the English prefer short forms of names. Examples of other names in this category are:

i. Mary May ii. Rebecca Becky iii. Franklin/ Francis Frank iv. Donald Don v. Joseph Joe vi. Thomas Tom, vii. Abraham Aby, Abe viii. Daniel Dan, ix. Elisabeth Lisa, Lissie /Lizzy, etc.

While names in this category are mainly clipped, a few radicals outrightly dropped theirs. Commenting on the dropping of

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Traditional English / Biblical names, Chiluwa (2010) observed that the era of African renaissance and independence brought the consciousness of promoting African cultural identity and the consequence the massive dropping of European names which were imposed by their colonial masters at the point of baptism. This brought about the dropping of the name ‘Benjamin’ by the first Nigerian President – Nnamdi Azikiwe while the governor of the defunct East-central state dropped ″Francis″ and simply became “Akanu Ibiam”. The tag ‘Jeremiah’ was also dropped by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In the context of early evangelisation in Africa, the missionaries portrayed African names and culture in general in general, as barbaric and idolatrous, as such new names were imposed on their adherents which were perceived to be superior to indigenous African names, religion, culture and tradition. Baptized Africans were forced to take their master’s preferred names as a symbol of a new identity and belonging to the ‘superior religion’. English names were associated with being a Christian, educated, civilized; in fact, it was a status symbol. The wave of African rebirth tremendously affected the naming convention/pattern of the church as most Christians ‘renounced’, dropped or are initialising their European/baptismal names, since such names do not reflect their African identity. With the advent of Pentecostalism there is reversal of naming practice among the Igbo Pentecostals of Nigeria. Old English names are fast losing prominence among the Pentecostal community of Christians, though still prominent among the Roman Catholic churches who still take up names in this category during baptism. Some elderly Pentecostals, who still retain the name, have them in clipped or initialised version, while others have completely dropped theirs. Among the elders’ council, the following phenomenon were recorded; i. Sampson Okocha Ukpabi now S. Okocha Ukpabi ii. Vincent Ewa Alu now V. Ewa Alu iii. Gregory Mbe Olughu now G. M. Olughu iv. Theophilus Ndukwe now T. Ndukwe

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v. Moses Oko Otu now M. O. Out vi. Francis Agha Oko now F. Agha Oko

The dropping, clipping and initialising of these names is a reflection of a new form of identity which not only challenges their former affinity to their former religion or denomination but also projects a new identity to stamp their feet on their uniqueness (Castell 1997). Among the elders, their projected identity (Castell 1997), principally challenges their English/ baptismal names but among the younger population; both English and traditional Igbo names, like, Nwafor, Agwu, Arusi, Nwosu, Nwarusi, Osugwu , Nworie, Nwafo etc, are resisted. This resistance to former identities, and the formation of new identities, enables them take up and fit into an internationalised identity, most Pentecostals now bear glocalised/hybridised names which are English names “in form, but African in content” (Chiluwa 2010). Among the younger generation of Pentecostals who constitute the majority population of the Pentecostal subculture, the naming identity is almost gone with the exception of a few which are retained and prefixed with royalty/class markers like; King, Queen, Emperor etc. A detailed account of this is discussed under Neo-Pentecostal names. It is however interesting to note that the phenomenon of name dropping or initialisation is common among the male population of elders. The female members in this age bracket still retained their baptismal English names like; Dinah, Angelina, Theresa, Rebecca, Mary etc. The justification for this could be explored in further studies.

Judeo Identity Names in this category are not biblical name per se but rather are names that reflect Jewish identity and affinity. Names that portray Jewish identities are mainly common among the younger population of Pentecostal (aged between 0 and 15 years). Example of such names

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include; Tehilah, Zoe, Jedidah, Shammah, Cherith, Jireh, Sharon, Rapha, etc. Ethnic Names Nigeria is a multi-ethnic country and with diverse ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages (Ethnologue). Each ethnic group has unique identities which sometimes transcend the physiognomy to the names they bear. Names provide useful information on one’s belongingness to a particular geographical location, ethnicity, language and religion. Beyond the issue of individual identity, names situate an individual to a group identity. Names identify members from non-members of a group. The examples below present names that reflect Igbo identity;

(i) Chiamaka Chi-Amaka God+good/nice (God is good) (ii) Chikanyima Chi-Ka-anyi-ma God +we know (It is God we know) (iii Chimamanda Chi- m - ama - nda God + my + will not + fall (My God will not fail) (iv) Somtoochukwu So-m-too-Chukwu Follow/Join +me+ praise + God (Join me (Let us) to thank God) (v) Chimdiebube Chi- m-di-ebube God +My+ is+ awesome (My God is awesome) (vi) Kelechi (chukwu) Kele-Chi Thank +God (Thank God) (vii). Chukwuemeka Chukwu-emeka God+ has done well (God has done great things) (viii). Ogechikamma Oge-chi-ka-mma Time + God +is +best (God’s time is the best)

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Interestingly, most Igbo names have ‘Chukwu’ – (the Supreme God) and ‘Chi’ (the deities, though used in contemporary Igbo names as the variant form / feminine referral for the Supreme God) variables. While it is typical for males to bear ‘Toochukwu’, ‘Kelechukwu, Uchechukwu, Chukwunonso, etc; females mainly go by their variable form of Toochi’, ‘Kelechi, Uchechi, Chinonso, etc. This however does not posit that this practice is applicable in all cases as parental/individual preferences still play out in choices they make.

Glocalised/ Neo‐Pentecostal Names The crux of this paper is this section, which contains names which I refer to as a reflection of glocalised identity by the Pentecostal names. This is the most popular set of names among the four categories. These names are coded in English language but transmit information on the indigenous thought pattern, thus the portmanteau blend of terms ‘global’ and local. In other words, they are a blend of indigenized and globalised identity. They are born out of resistance of their former religious identities (like Catholicism, mainstream Protestants, and the other forms of Pentecostalism and other religions). The names reflect the new religious identity and ideology of the bearer and giver. There stand as the most popular naming convention among the Igbo speaking Pentecostals of Nigeria. Consequently, names that reflected ethnic and traditional English identities/biblical names are witnessing decline in their usage. The few Pentecostals who still go by the names prefer to answer their clipped or the initialised versions of the names. Others out rightly drop those names and pick up any of these new names. The phenomenon of name change /dropping is not only common among the Pentecostals. Indeed, naming change is not a new phenomenon. Traditionally, the Chinese have names for every period of their lives, even one for the time after death (Brendler 2012). This same perspective is shared by Agyekum (2006), who observe that in Akan, individuals may change their names, although this is common

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with circumstantial names. This is borne out of the belief among Africans that names have potentials of imprisoning or liberating a person’s destiny. So a change of name is perceived to have the ability to bring about a change of circumstances and situations around a bearer. Also, from biblical antecedents, so there were cases of name changes to reflect new identities and expectations in the Bible (1 Chronicles 4:9-10; Genesis 17:5; Genesis 17:15; John 1:42). Pentecostals believe that one’s name is not different from the bearer. This probably accounts for the new wave of acquiring names that portray their new identity to reflect the religious ideology of positivity. Naming identities are just like other forms of identities, which are always fragmentary and flux. Names, like other forms of identities are constantly negotiated and (de/re) constructed over time and space. In as much as identities are constantly negotiated, certain forms of identities are stable, imposed and coercively applied, for instance, sex, race and caste (Thornborrow 2004). Chiluwa (2010) had classified charismatic names among Nigerians into the following categories: Ideological (positive) confession, Prophetic names, Experience/Circumstantial, Worship and Praise, Virtue names, Parental Admiration, Offering and Commitment, Self-Abasement and Sermonic names but due to obvious overlaps, the themes were modified and analysed using the following category; i. Ideological reflection ii. Virtue iii. Parental Admiration iv. Circumstantial names v. Praise and Worship vi. Class and Royalty

Ideological reflection in names These are names that re-enact the belief of the people. Pentecostals believe in positive confession and that you can create your world by your word. The following names, Blossom, Flourish, Amazing,

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Splendour, Breakthrough, Fortune, Prosper, Abundance, Dominion Success, Excel, Valiant, Winner, Wonder, Solution, etc are all indications of the parental expectations on the bearer. A child given such names are is expected to exhibit unusual feat in his/her field of endeavour. On the other hand, a child named ‘I am blessed - Am blessed’ is expected to have a blessed future devoid of evil occurrences. Other names in this category include; Awesome, Alpha, Excellent, I believe (IB), Anointing, Shelter, etc. These names re-enact Pentecostal belief and ideological confession that all things are possible, as such words have creative powers. There is the ideological belief that what you say determines what you see (See Fredrick 2007). As such positive names will always reflect positive outcome. Some scholars have argued that their ideological confessions and teaching distract worshippers from facing their contending challenges and taking collective responsibility in solving their problems (Cf. Gifford 2004; Freeman 2012; Deacon & Lynch 2013). This view notwithstanding, there is a popular belief on the synergy between one’s personal name and his future/destiny.

Virtue These are names that extol positive virtues. Most names in this category are given to girl child, though with few exceptions. This shows the societal expectations on the girl child as opposed to their male counterpart. The society deliberately expects the girl child to imbibe / exhibit such virtues. There is prejudiced reflection of women. Examples of such names are; Faith, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Hope, Truth, Prudence, Purity, Love, Kindness, etc

Parental Admiration Names in this category are celebration of worth and value placed on the child. They are appealing and reflection of the following: a. the physical attribute of the child. For instance; Dazzle, Shine, Beauty, Angel, Bright, etc. b. values placed by the parents; Pearl, Crystal, Gold, Onyx, Diamond, Jewel, Precious, Divine, etc.

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c. Feeling toward the child; Beloved, Darling(ton), Sweetheart, Passion, etc. Chiluwa however notes that names in this category celebrate human worth, qualities and tendency. They reflect shades, appearances and qualities reposed on a person by the name giver. He however notes that “modern Christian names are actually egocentric and self- centred” (247).

Circumstantial names These names reflect the circumstances that preceded the birth of the child. Names here contain stories about life experiences and occurrences. People’s pasts and future expectations are storied in the name they give their children. For instance, names like; Endurance, Godstime is the Best (Best), etc, presuppose long period of wait before the conception/ birth of the baby. Names like; Destiny, Miracle/Miraculous, Triumph, Victory, etc; presuppose breaking of perceived social order or unusual occurrences that proceeded the birth of the child. Other names in this category are; Reward, Promise, Preserve, Excel, Surplus, Reward, Dividend, Revelation, Evidence, etc.

Praise and Worship Names in this category are given in appreciation to the God, who is perceived as the giver of children. Thank God (TG), Praise God, Melody, Honour, Wonderful, Awesome, Faithful, Excellent, Glorious, Gracious, Alleluia, Worship, Hosanna, etc.

Class and Royalty Names in this category are not like ideological confession but rather seen as names that reflect the class of the parents, or expectations of the parent on the child. Parents name their children; King, Prince, Bishop, Great, Emperor, Apostle, Evangel, etc, as symbols of royalty which the child is expected to bring to their family. Most of these names exist as prefix noun in which case they serve as adjectives to enact the status or societal role assignment on the bearer. The root names most times are Bible characters or influential figures in the

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society. For instance, King‐David or Prince‐David, is taken after the Bible character King David. Parents who want their children to exhibit the daring attributes of the biblical king David name them as such. There is also the second type of David, prefixed with “Bishop” – Bishop David. This is very prominent among members of the Living Faith Church, where every family has a son named after their presiding bishop and founder, Bishop David Oyedepo. People naturally will want to be identified with a person/ character they admire and may go to the extent of naming their children after them. Bishop David Oyedepo currently stands out as the richest pastor in the world with an estimated net worth of about $150 million (Forbes 2011). The other names that depict royalty and class are: Apostle‐Paul, Queen‐Esther, King Joshua, King George, Emperor George, Emperor Charles, Prince Charles, and Goodluck. The name Goodluck became prominent not just among Nigerian Pentecostals but in Nigeria as a whole between 2010 and 2015. Many male children born between 2010-2015 are bearing the name. Due to the popular belief among Africans, that one’s name determines his/ her destiny, the name Goodluck appealed to Nigerian Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals alike as a sign of good luck. More so, for the circumstances that saw Goodluck Jonathan becoming the Nigerian president following the death of President Musa Yar’Adua. Chiluwa had argued that the naming stance of the Nigerian charismatic churches is not a product of translation of indigenous names to English but ‘an original rendering of the names as it is used’ (237). This paper argues that in as much as the names are rendered and used in English form, there is some level of transliteration of indigenous African names into the English form by the Nigerian Pentecostals to reflect a westernised/globalised identity. This is propelled by the phenomenon of resistance identity and project identity (Castell 20007). Resistance against the dominant Old English names which reflected colonial identity, Catholicism and mainstream orthodox identities and Resistance of indigenous African names as having links to their ancestry. A new form of identity is however projected to carve a niche of uniqueness.

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While traditional English names and ethnic/cultural names are experiencing a downturn among Nigerian Pentecostals, indigenous thoughts and contexts imbued in traditional African names and values are still retained and expressed though in English forms to project global identity. The resisted/ challenged identities led to the construction of new forms of identities for its members which project their Pentecostal ideology and redefine their position in society using the cultural materials available to them. Such names are pragmatically encoded to express contextual experiences (Chiluwa 2010) Again, the quest of fitting into the global trend and arena, which is a major effect of Pentecostalism, is another driving force. This brings about the translation (transliteration) from indigenous to English in order to share a globalised and ambiguous identity while retaining the meaning or value of the names. Igbo names Glocalised name i. Ngozi I’m blessed (Am blessed) ii. Nmesoma Goodness iii. Kelechi (KC) Thank God iv. Toochukwu Praise God v. Ogechi God’s time vi. Ebube Amazing Wonder/Miraculous vii. Oluebube Miraculous viii. Amobichukwu God’s will ix. Onyinye Gift/Giftings x. Ikechukwu Godspower xi. Ukanwoke Churchman xii. Nkwachukwu Promise xiii. Ola Gold/ Pearl/Diamond

These names defy Geertz’s standardized labels where a child is automatically given a name to show his position in the family. Names that reflect days of the week like; Okeke/ Mgboeke, Okorie/ Mgborie, Okafo/ Mgboafo, Okonkwo/Nkwo in Igbo. In Yoruba, Bosede shortened to Bose for a girl born on Sunday or Joose for the boy. Or even the

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English versions like; Sunday, Monday or Friday are no longer popular among the Pentecostals (Chiluwa 2010). What we have now are glocalised names that are local in context but English in form in order to reflect an internationalised identity, yet retaining the local content. Such names are metaphoric. This naming is not only applicable to first names, but some Pentecostals have gone further to drop their family names and take up names in a bid to severe former affinity from the former family, culture, religion and identity. Such names, according to them were reflections of their old self and a link to their ancestry and idolatrous families and their identities, which they have denounced membership of; in preference to their new found faith and identity. It is common among Pentecostals to see names like;

First Names Surnames i. Excellent Hebron ii. Marvellous Breakthrough iii. Triumphant Promise iv. Awesome Peters v. Wonder Mathew vi. Amazing Winners vii. Chris Israel viii. Faith David ix. Favour Precious x. Greatman David xi. Bestman Godspower xii. Angel Thank God, etc.

The names are reflections of the ideological belief and experiences of the givers/ bearers. The phenomenon under discourse is attributed to the influence of westernization/ globalisation, which to a great extent has influenced the naming pattern of the members who have succumbed to the pressure of flowing with the masses and resisting the traditional way of life, system, value and culture.

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Reasons for the Resistant Identity among the Igbo Neo‐ Pentecostal The following are motivations for the preference of English coded names: Going by the Trend Pentecostalism promotes monolingualism in its projection and extended use of English in their sermonic, worship and other domains of operation. English is the language of participating in online service and assessing digital salvation (Omoniyi 2006). Access to Pentecostal materials and resources is only possible via the use of English. It is therefore trendy to translate indigenous names to reflect global identity and to fit in well into the Westernised space. Even some Nigerian Pentecostal pastors have gone to the extent of acquiring Americanized accent, culture shift in dressing and hair make. Omoniyi (2006:2) reflecting the views Bernard Shaw’s 1912 captures it as the “Americanization of the world”. This is a major force to the shift in the naming tradition among Nigerian Pentecostals. Ethnic Insecurity The prevailing ethnic bias in Nigeria is a major reason why people will prefer concealing information on their ethnicity and language. Your name and language determine your access to certain positions in Nigeria. Insecurity with the use of indigenous language The name you bear is a pointer to your language and ethnicity. In Nigeria, access to job is partly dependent on one’s name and consequently one's ethnicity. This insecurity and fear of possible alienation is a major reason for people to drop their ethnic names in preference to a neutral name (English) which conceals information on the ethnicity of the bearer. Affinity with the new found faith and severance from former The naming phenomenon among Pentecostals is purely born out of resistance of identity and carving a unique identity niche that differentiates members from non-members. The naming pattern unites the members of the group as well as separates them from non-

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members. Interestingly, this naming pattern is presently diffusing even to non-Pentecostal population of the society.

Conclusion The advent and the concomitant effect of Pentecostalism in Africa greatly influenced the pattern and system of naming practice in African and Nigeria in particular. Findings revealed that among the Pentecostals of Nigeria it is becoming trendy for new converts to adopt names that reflect their new culture and ideology, of which surnames may sometimes be dropped and a new one taken. Sometimes, their original names may be dropped, or may be retained in initials, which convey no information as is typical of African names. The trend and patterns of naming, show that the language, history, philosophy, ideology and their interaction with foreign culture and belief system are all reflected in the name people bear. This therefore implies that personal names are as important as a people’s language, history, culture, religion and ancestry. Names not only map the history of the people and their ancestry but also their spirituality and socialisation process. There is cultural and linguistic shift from African names that reflect the linguistic, philosophical and geographical information of the name giver/bearer to a preference for westernized names and culture, though with retention of African values. This could be, termed as sociolinguistic hybridization/glocalisation. The sociolinguistic outcome of this phenomenon is language endangerment occasioned by religious identity pressure. Interestingly, Igbo names are not the only ones pressured by religion. The phenomenon is same with Hausa names which are fast being replaced by Arabic names, with existing few being names of towns/ villages. Religion is perceived here as having an intrinsic tie to linguistic vitality. With the permeation of religious discourses into the social space, most Nigerian Christians (non-Pentecostals) currently bear the so-called Pentecostal names, which are perceived to be trendy and in consonance with the requirement of having a globalised/ internationalised identity.

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References Achebe, C. 1966. A man of the people. Heinemann Publishers. Adeboye, O. 2012. “A church in a cinema hall?’ Pentecostal appropriation of public space in Nigeria” Journal of Religion in Africa 42, 45-171. Adegbija, E. 1994. Language attitudes in sub‐saharan Africa. Levedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Multilingual Matters. Agyekum, Kofi. 2006. “The Sociolinguistic of Akan personal names” Nordic Journal of African Studies 15 (2) 206-235. Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. 2010. ‘Taking territories and raising Champions’:contemporary Pentecostalism and changing faces of Christianity in Africa 1980-2010”. Inaugural lecture; Trinity theological seminary, Legon, Accra, Ghana. Thursday, December 16, 2010. Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. 2005. “An African Pentecostal on mission in eastern Europe: the church of the ‘Embassy of God’ in the Ukraine,” Pneuma: The Journal of the society for Pentecostal studies 27, no. 2: 297–321. Azuonye, Chukwuma. 2003. Igbo as an Endangered Language. Uwa ndi Igbo: Journal of Igbo life and culture. Number 3, April 2003. Basden, George Thomas. 2006.Travellers, explorers and pioneers; Among the Ibos of Nigeria. BBC Survey of Thursday, 26 February, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/wtwtgod/3490490.stm Bloom L. and Ottong, J.G.1987. Changing Africa: An introduction to sociology. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Brendler, Silvio. 2012.“Identity of name(s) as a crucial problem in name studies, or: towards the recognition of onymic identity as a principal onomastic concept”. in B. Helleland, C.-E. Ore & S. Wikstrøm (eds.) Names and Identities, Oslo Studies in Language 4(2), 29–44. Castells, Manuel. 1997. The power of identity. Oxford: Blackwell.

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Castells, Manuel. 2010. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Volume 1: The Rise of the Network Society. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. Chiluwa, Innocent. 2010. A discourse of naming among Christian charismatic movements in Nigeria.’ Language, literature and discourse: A Festschrift in Honour of Prof. Lekan Oyeleye. Ayo Ogunsiji, Ayo Kehinde and Akin Odebunmi (eds.) München: Lincom, GmbH, Germany (pp. 233-248). Deacon, Gregory and Gabrielle Lynch. 2013. Allowing Satan in? Moving toward a political economy of neo-Pentecostalism in Kenya. Journal of Religion in Africa 43, 108-130. Duranti, Alessandro.1997. Linguistics Anthropology. Cambridge University Press Edwards, John. 2009.Language and identity: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Emeka-Nwobia, Ngozi. 2016. Language and identity construction in Nigerian Pentecostal churches. Seminar paper presented at the school of Languages seminar series, University of Ghana. November, 2016. Fishman, Joshua. 2006. ‘Decalogue of basic theoretical perspectives for sociology of Language and religion’ In, Omoniyi, Tope and Fishman Joshua (eds) (2006) Explorations in the sociology of language and religion. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (13-25) ForbesMagazine.2011.www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/201 1/06/.../the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria... Freeman, Dena (ed). 2012. Pentecostalism and Development: Churches, NGOs and Social Change in Africa. New York: Palgrave McMillan. Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Gifford, Paul. 2004. Ghana's new Christianity: Pentecostalism in a globalizing African economy. Indiana University Press. Groys, B. (2009). Religion in the age of digital reproduction. Journal #04. Retrieved from: https://www.e /04/68569/religion-in- the-age-of-digital-reproduction/

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Holy Bible (1 Chronicles 4:9-10; Genesis 17:5; Genesis 17:15; John 1:42) Joseph, John. 2004. Language and Identity: National, Ethnic, Religious. Palgrave Macmillian Kroskrity, Paul. 2000. Identity. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 9(1-2), 111-114. Mphande, Lupenga. 2006. Naming and Linguistic Africanisms in African American Culture Selected Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. John Mugane et al., 104-113. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Mazrui, Ali A. 1987. African triple heritage; ‘United States: Little Brown & co, Omoniyi, Tope. 2006. Societal multilingualism and multifaithism: A sociology of language and religion perspective. In Omoniyi, Tope (ed.) 2006. The sociology of language and religion. Palgrave Macmillan. Omoniyi, Tope, and Joshua A. Fishman (eds.) (2006). Explorations in the sociology of language and religion. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Onukawa, Monday. 2000. “The Chi Concept in Igbo Gender Naming,” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 107-117”. Spolsky, B. (2010). Sociolinguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. Thornborrow, Joanna. 2004. Language and identity. In Language, Society and Power: An Introduction. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge. Wolf, Hans-Georg. 2001. English in Cameroon. In Sociology of Language 85. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Ubahakwe, Eboh. 1982. “Culture content of Igbo personal names” In Ogbalu F.C. and Emenanjo E.N. eds Igbo language and culture. Vol. 2 Onitsha, University Press ltd 27-39. Zink, Jesse. 2012. “Anglocostalism in Nigeria: Neo-Pentecostalism and obstacles to Anglican unity” Journal of Anglican Studies, 10(2): 231–50.

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'Mr Chairman Sir': Deference Markers in Nigerian Investigative Public Hearings

Foluke Unuabonah Redeemer’s University, Ede [email protected]

Abstract This study investigates the forms, frequency and functions of deference pragmatic markers in Nigerian investigative public hearings. The data are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively from a discourse-pragmatic framework that incorporates Fraser's pragmatic markers, Systemic Functional linguistics, and conversation analysis. The study shows that these deference pragmatic markers have mainly taken the shape of general, official, social and religious titles. The analysis further indicates that general titles have the highest rate of occurrence and that complainants/defendants used the highest number of deference markers in addressing the chair of the panel. The analysis further shows that the distribution of these deference markers indexes the formal context, social status and the roles of the participants in the hearings, and signal shared sociocultural and professional knowledge in an institutional setting. Key Words: deference, forms of address, Nigerian investigative public hearings, pragmatic markers, vocatives

Introduction Nigeria is a multilingual and multicultural postcolonial society where English serves as a second and official language amidst over five hundred indigenous languages (Taiwo, 2009; Simon & Fennig, 2017). Thus, sociocultural knowledge and norms associated with these Nigerian indigenous languages influence the variety of English used in the society (Adegbija, 2004). These sociocultural norms and beliefs are reflected in the pragmatic features of Nigerian English (Akindele and Adegbite, 1999). For example, Odebunmi (2006) reveals the

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pragmatic functions of proverbs in play texts written in English by Nigerian playwrights while Unuabonah & Gut (2018) report how the frequent use of proverbs influences the deployment of hearsay markers such as they say/said in Nigerian English. An important aspect of the pragmatic features of Nigerian English is the use of deference markers which form a class under forms of address (Oyetade, 1995; Jucker & Taavitsainen, 2003). Deference itself is any verbal or non-verbal act that indicates that the speaker is willing to yield to the hearer's preferences or opinions as a sign of respect or reverence (Fragale et al, 2012). Linguistically, deference may be marked in different forms such as in the use of modals (e.g. may), hedges (e.g. kind of) and address forms (e.g. sir and your honour). In this study, our attention is on address terms that indicate deference and are seen as a type of pragmatic markers (Fraser, 2006). Deference pragmatic markers, a type of parallel pragmatic markers (Fraser, 2006), are pragmatic markers that signal a message of high esteem and respect in a text. As such, they have great interpersonal and interactional value in different discourse contexts. Although there have been several studies on different pragmatic markers over the last twenty-five years (Schiffrin, 1987; Brinton, 1996; Aijmer, 2013), little attention has been paid to the study of deference markers in English. This perhaps may have to do with the relative lack of use of titles in native varieties of English. The few that exist focus on its forms in native English (Fraser, 2006) and its interpersonal function as a politeness marker in native English public speeches (Han, 2011), without exploring deference pragmatic markers in non-native English contexts or investigating other textual and interpersonal functions that these pragmatic markers may have in such situations. Few studies on deference markers in postcolonial societies are embedded within general studies on address forms (Oyetade, 1996; Afful 2007; Anchimbe, 2011; Unuabonah, 2018a) or Nigerian English usage (Chiluwa, 2010). This is also the case in the study of address forms in institutional discourses such as parliamentary

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discourse which have mainly focused on pronominal references (Ilie, 2005). In the field of investigative public hearings, research on forms of address and especially deference markers in the hearings is quite limited. Rather, scholars in the field have addressed contextual features (Berlin, 2007; Unuabonah, 2016), critical discourse aspects (Verdoolage, 2009), codeswitching (Bock, 2011), discourse structure (Unuabonah, 2012), metapragmatic markers (Unuabonah, 2017a), stance taking (Marin-Arrese, 2015; Unuabonah, 2017b) and quotations (Unuabonah, 2018b) in the hearings without exploring the textual and interpersonal functions of deference markers in investigative public hearings. This is a significant oversight as deference markers are useful in achieving textual coherence and managing rapport and interpersonal relations (Spencer-Oatey, 2008). They are equally metapragmatic in nature because they point to and comment on the communicative context of the discourse (Hubler & Bublitz, 2007). This study, therefore, examines deference pragmatic markers in Nigerian investigative public hearing (IPH), with a view to investigating their forms, frequency as well as their textual and interpersonal functions in the hearings.

Theoretical Framework The study is based on Fraser (2006) classification of pragmatic markers and guided by a systemic-functional linguistics approach to the study of pragmatic markers (see Aijmer, 2015) which addresses the textual and interpersonal functions of linguistic items. Pragmatic markers are optional linguistic items that connect an utterance to its co-text and/or context (Buysse, 2012). Fraser (1996) posits that pragmatic markers indicate representational meanings where they denote concepts and procedural meanings where they specify the relationship between discourse segments. He divides pragmatic markers into basic pragmatic markers, commentary pragmatic markers, parallel pragmatic markers and discourse markers (Fraser, 2006). Basic pragmatic markers such as

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please and I insist signal the type of the illocutionary force that a speaker intends to convey in an utterance. Commentary pragmatic markers such as really and certainly signal a remark, an observation or a comment on a basic message in an utterance. Discourse markers such as but and so are markers that indicate a semantic relationship between discourse items (Fraser, 2013) while parallel pragmatic markers such as sir and now indicate a message that is separate from the basic message in an utterance (Fraser, 2006). Deference pragmatic markers in this study are also be examined from the perspective of Halliday and Matthiessen's (2004) systemic-functional linguistics which addresses textual and interpersonal functions of linguistic items (in this case, pragmatic markers) situated in a social context. Textual meanings focus on how linguistic items function as a means of constructing a text while interpersonal meanings address how linguistic items express the addresser's attitude and behaviour, and also influence the addressee's attitude and behaviour (see Aijmer 2015). In addition, conversational analysis which focuses on the structure of talk and turn-taking procedures (Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson 1974) will assist in identifying the textual functions of deference markers in the hearings. Thus, these theories will help to answer the following questions in the study: What kinds of deference markers are used in Nigerian investigative public hearings? What is the distribution of these markers in the hearings? What are the textual and interpersonal functions of these markers in the hearings?

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Hearings The FCT hearings were the first fully televised quasi-judicial public hearings in Nigeria and they were inaugurated in April, 2008 by the Nigerian Senate in order to probe complaints of illegal demolition, eviction, relocation, sales and concession of government-owned properties. The hearings were constituted by the Nigerian Senate as part of her oversight functions, in order to address issues which had been left unresolved, despite the fact that some of the issues raised were already being heard in the law courts. Even though there were

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already court orders restricting the activities of some government officials, there was disobedience to some of the court orders by some of these officials. This provided a platform for the Nigerian Senate to make inquiries into the different cases. The structure of the hearing sessions comprised an oath-taking ritual, presentation of testimonies by complainants and defendants, interrogations, and admission of exhibits. The hearings, which were headed by the chairman of the Senate committee on FCT, took place in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, from 9th April 2008 to 14th May 2008, and were conducted in English. The FCT hearings focus on the presentation of complaints and defences by Nigerian citizens and government officials, and the interrogation of such accounts by a Senate hearing panel. The FCT investigative public hearings are chosen because they involve interactions between 'powerful' and 'powerless' speakers and hearers, situations in which deference markers may likely occur.

Methodology The data comprised forty purposively sampled video recordings of the 2008 Nigerian investigative public hearings on the Nigerian FCT administration hearings. This comprised eleven hours of talk made up of 92,000 words approximately and these are analysed qualitatively from a discourse-pragmatic approach. The participants included thirty-one complainants, nine defendants and a hearing panel (HP) made up of twenty-one senators. The quantitative analysis involved the use of simple percentages. The qualitative analysis was executed from a SFL perspective complemented by conversational analysis.

Analysis and Discussion The hearings consist of three main discursive contexts within which deference markers are used. These include (1) the narrative context which covers the chairman’s request for the presentation of testimonies and the presentation itself, (2) the interrogative context covers both the hearing panel questions and the complainant/defendants’ (henceforth C/D) responses and (3) the requestive context which covers the requests for prayers and the

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prayer itself (see Unuabonah 2015). In the hierarchical structure of the hearings, the chairman is at the top of the hierarchy followed by other members of the HP and then the complainants and the defendants. This structure influences the use of deference markers in the hearings as the chairman is likely to be addressed with more deference markers than other participants in the hearings. In section 5.1, I discuss the forms and distribution of the deference markers and in section 5.2, I discuss the textual and interpersonal functions of these markers.

Forms and Distribution of the Deference Markers in the Hearings The findings reveal that deference markers in Nigerian IPH include general titles (Mr, madam, sir), official titles (senator, chairman, doctor), religious titles (pastor, alhaji) and social titles (prince). These titles may be simple when they involve the use of single deference markers (i.e. senator, sir, chairman) or complex when they comprise a combination of two deference markers (i.e. Honourable Senator, Mr chairman sir) or a combination of a deference marker and a pronoun or an adjective (My senator, former IG). Table 1 presents the distribution of the markers used by the different classes of participants in the hearings.

Table 1. Deference markers used by different participants Forms of Add. Complainants Defendants HP Chair Total %

Sir 323 171 21 18 533 67.6% Distinguished 7 26 1 3 37 4.7% Senator (X) Mr. chairman 4 7 18 - 29 3.7% Mr. (x) - - 12 10 22 2.8% Former IG (sir) - - 9 12 21 2.7% Gentleman(men) - - - 20 20 2.5% Chief - - 1 13 14 1.8% Barrister - - - 14 14 1.8% (Mr.) senator (x) - 2 - 11 13 1.6% Madam - - 2 8 10 1.3% Alhaji - - 2 8 10 1.3%

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(My) doctor - - 4 6 10 1.3% Chairman 1 3 5 - 9 1.1% Distinguished 7 1 - - 8 1% Members of this Committee (Our) Distinguished 5 2 - - 7 0.9% Chairman (sir) My lord 5 1 - - 6 0.8% My chairman 6 - - - 6 0.8% Mr chairman sir 2 2 2 - 6 0.8% (My) honourable 4 1 - - 5 0.6% Senator Pastor - - - 3 3 0.4% Honourable 3 - - - 3 0.4% Chairman Lawyer - - 1 - 1 0.1% Prince - - - 1 1 0.1% Total 367(46.6%) 216 (27.4%) 78(9.9 127(16.1%) 788 100.% %)

The table indicates that there was a wide range of deference markers (31) which made up a total of 788 occurrences of deference markers in the hearings. Overall, general titles had the highest rate of occurrence with sir having the highest frequency of individual deference markers which made more than half of the deference markers in the hearings. This is followed by distinguished senators and Mr Chairman which indicates that these participants have a higher status in the hearings. The high frequency of sir may be as a result of the fact that all the speakers used it in addressing one another in the hearings irrespective of their social status or roles (see Table 3). Other scholars such as Chiluwa (2010) and Unuabonah (2018a) show that sir is a regular form of address in both written and spoken texts in Nigeria. In the hearings, different forms of titles may be used to make up for the lack of honorific pronouns in English, which exist in some Nigerian languages i.e. Yoruba (Oyetade, 1995). Moreover, scholars have reiterated that that Nigerians have an excessive love for titles (see Chiluwa 2010). Table 1 also shows that complainants used the highest number of deference markers to address other participants followed

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by defendants, the chairman and the hearing panel. The complainants may have used the highest number of deference markers based on their social status and the pragmatic functions they perform in the hearings. In the hierarchical structure of the hearings, complainants and defendants are at the lowest end of the hierarchy. Based on Nigerian socio-cultural ethics, people of lower status are expected to show deference to people of a higher status especially when they need something from people of lower statuses. When compared to the defendants who are mainly top government officials, many of the complainants are simple civil servants, shop owners, market men and women, and farm owners. Also, participants’ roles may account for complainants’/defendants’ higher use of deference markers than the chairman/hearing panel, and for the chairman's more frequent use of deference markers than the hearing panel. For instance, the complainants are in the hearings, not only to make complaints but also to make requests. The complainants want justice which in many cases includes the payment of compensation fees for evictions and demolitions, reversal of land titles that had been withdrawn reallocations of government houses. Also, the defendants want their defence to be taken as the true account of events and do not want to be indicted for past actions that they had undertaken. Thus, both defendants and complainants are placed in positions where they need a fair hearing, goodwill and acceptability from the HP. Thus, they are obliged to use deference markers to show respect towards the HP members. Furthermore, the chairman employs more deference markers than other HP members since he is the one that is in control of the hearings and has to address all other participants in order to determine when each participant has the floor in the hearings. Table 2 presents the forms of deference markers that were used in addressing each class of participants in the hearings

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Table 2 Deference markers used in addressing participants Complainants/ Chair HP Defendants Addresses No Sir Sir Sir Mr (X) Chairman Senator(s) Gentleman(men) Mr chairman Mr Senator Chief Mr Chairman sir (My) honourable senator Madam My chairman Distinguished senator(s) Alhaji Honourable chairman Pastor Our distinguished chairman Former IG (sir) My Lord Barrister Sir Prince Chairman Lawyer

Table 2 indicates that the widest range of deference markers that were used in addressing the participants who belonged to different professions and social groups in the society; this was followed by markers used in addressing the chairman and lastly, other members of the HP. The table also shows that the widest range of complex deference markers were used in addressing the panel chairman. This indicates the higher social status and power wielded by the chairman in the hearings. This status is further marked as none of the other participants addressed the chairman by his name or by his title and name. All the participants including other members of the hearing panel addressed the chairman by his title alone despite the fact that everyone in the hearings would have known the name of the panel chairman. Equally, the complaints/defendants addressed other members of the hearing panel by their titles alone. The opposite is the case as the chairman addressed other members of the HP as well as

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the complainants and defendants by their titles and names. This also indicates the chairman's higher social status in the hearings. Other members of the hearings panel also addressed the complainants/defendants by the titles and names and sometimes by their names alone, which indicates that they have a higher status than the complainants/defendants especially when the complainants or defendants are not elderly people or people who hold key positions in the society. As earlier indicated, these deference markers belong to different categories such as include general titles, occupational or official titles as well as religious and social titles. Such terms are more prevalent in postcolonial English societies such as Nigeria and Cameroon (see Anchimbe 2007; Unuabonah 2018b) than in western societies (Jucker and Taavitsainen 2003).

Textual and Interpersonal Functions of Deference Markers in the IPH Deference markers in the hearings perform both textual and interpersonal functions. These are discussed in 5.1 and 5.2 respectively. Textual Functions Textually, the deference pragmatic markers are used to bid for, allocate and terminate turns, interrupt, and mark boundaries within utterances in the hearings. These are discussed in turn. Bidding and allocating turns The HP members as well as complainants/defendants usually have to bid for turns, while the HP Chair and sometimes, the vice-chair allocate turns to other interactants using deference markers. Examples (1) and (2) indicates this:

(1) Sen.: Which white paper? The white paper cannot breach the constitution Senators: Please Mr Chairman Mr Chairman Chair: Please one by one (2) Chair: Senator Kemi Kila

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Sen: My name is Kemi Kila, a senator. Before you answer that question, […]

In example (1), other members of the HP bid for turns by addressing the chairman by his title while in example (2) the chairman selects the senator who has made a bid for a turn to speak by simply addressing the senator with his title and name.

Termination of a Turn The chairman and other HP members may signal to the speaker who has the floor to end a turn. (3) Def.: You may be right. Sen.: I am Chair: Em Dr em Senator Henshaw, thank you. Can you answer Senator’s question?

In example (3), which involves an interaction between a defendant and one of the panel members, the chairman of the panel ends the senators turn by addressing him by his title and name. This is done in order to manage the interactions in the hearings and save time. He then asks the defendant to take the floor.

Interrupting others' Utterances Due to the asymmetrical relationship between the HP and the complainants/ and defendants, members of the HP usually interrupt complainants and defendants. Example (4) illustrates this (4) Sen. Anthony: Aren’t you expected to know? Def: I am not expected to know everything that happens in the states ... Sen.: eh eh IG as the…as the IG, there are 36 states

In example (4), the senator interrupts the defendant as he calls out his title. However, complainants and defendants may on a few occasions interrupt the panel members through the use of their titles as indicated in example (5):

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(5) Chair: (...) But we will give you the court order that you are asking for. We will show you. Just by… Def: Chairman what I’m saying is this… Chair: Let me see. Please give him… Please give him. Give him…give him to read it aloud to the hearing of everybody (...)

When complainants and defendants interrupt the panel members, they do so in order to correct statements that they perceive may have been made wrongly by the panel members. Rendle-Short (2007) also notes the use of address terms to interrupt others.

Marking of boundaries In the hearings, deference markers may also be used to mark boundaries in a speaker's utterance as cited in example (6):

(6) Chair: So, thank you very much eh Senator Kemi Kila. Doctor, I believe you will address this issue.

In example (6), the chairman does not only use the title doctor to allocate a turn to the defendant but employs it to indicate a boundary between the end of the senator's turn and the allocation of a turn to the defendant. This occurs during the interrogative context.

Interpersonal Functions Interpersonally, the deference pragmatic markers are used to express politeness, emphasise the content of an upcoming message, manage rapport, signal shared sociocultural and situational knowledge, and claim attention. These are discussed in the following sub-section:

Indication of shared situational and sociocultural knowledge Interactants in the hearings indicate both situational and sociocultural knowledge of the organisation of the hearings. Indication of situational knowledge occurs in the types of deference markers that are used in addressing different groups of interactants

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in the hearing. As earlier explained in Section 5.1, the chairman of the panel is at the top of the organisational chart and he is addressed by the title of chairman and other variants of this title. He is never addressed by his name unlike other members of the hearing panel and the complainants/defendants. The complainants/defendants are at the bottom of the hierarchy and they address both the chair and other members of the panel by their titles. The use of deference markers in the hearings indexes shared sociocultural knowledge between the HP and the complainants/defendants. Such sociocultural knowledge is reflected in the use of religious and social titles such as Alhaji, Pastor and Chief. Extract (7) illustrates this.

(7) Chair: Thank you very much Alhaji Umar Adamu Comp:: Thank you Chair: You are welcome to this public hearing.

Alhaji is a Muslim title for male Muslims that have gone to Mecca on pilgrimage. This is a title that is borne by many male Muslims especially from the Northern part of Nigeria and which indicates respect and honour for the bearers. Thus, it is important that addressers in the hearings use such honorific religious titles for the addressee.

Emphasising the Content of an Upcoming message In the hearings, interactants employ deferencM markers in order to emphasise the content of an upcoming message. Extract (8) exemplifies this:

(8) Comp. […] we do not believe that the section 28, subsection 5A and B Land Use Act 1978, applies to us as a government agency and therefore, if they will not intervene, we will go to court to seek proper interpretation and whether you can take land from a government agency in that regard. My…my resignation, Mr. Chairman, if you will permit me is that this

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land was taken eh from a public agency and given to private concerns.

In extract (8), the complainant makes his complaint and presents other actions that he will take in order to correct the wrongs that were committed against his agency. He then explicitly addresses the chairman of the panel in order to emphasise the importance of the upcoming message: that the property in question was taken from a public agency and given to private hands, a statement, he believes, negates the general principle that reallocation or concession was done in the interest of the public.

Management of rapport and expression of politeness In the hearings, interactants employ deference markers in order to manage rapport between themselves and their hearers. This becomes necessary when rapport challenging acts are being performed. Extract (9) exemplifies this:

(9) Sen: […] When your policemen were disobeying as much as 76 court orders, you want to say that you were not aware in view of the fact that you need to take judicial notice and if you were, what disciplinary actions were taken against them? Def.: My honourable senators, court orders that are issued are court orders between the parties and if I am to enforce the court order, I should be copied. I should know. […]

In extract (9), the defendant utilises a deference marker in a context where his actions or inactions have been challenged by a member of the HP. Since the act of defending which the defendant is about to perform is a face-threatening act, the defendant uses a complex deference marker which involves the possessive pronoun my. This pronoun signals a personal relationship between the defendant and the HP and is meant to save the face of both the speaker and the hearer in the face of a threatening act. This face saving act is further enhanced

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by the use of the adjective honourable which indicates that the speaker holds the hearers in high esteem and his defence does not indicate a reduction of this high regard for them.

Claiming of attention One of the important functions of deference markers in the hearings is calling the attention of hearers to specific issues. This is a function that all the speakers use the markers to perform in the hearings. Extract (10) illustrates this.

(10) Comp: [...] Thank you for the opportunity to speak and I’m really grateful for the democracy that has given me the opportunity to talk. We would want you, Mr. Chairman sir and distinguished Senators, seeing is believing. […] go to the grounds of Garki Hospital. Look at what it is now. Where is it heading for? Is it in the interest of the few men who are out to make some profit?

In extract (10), a complainant uses the title of the hearers not only to call their attention but to also sustain their attention and focus on his message. This is evident through the use of a complex form following the address you which helps to indicate the importance of the message that the speaker is relaying.

Conclusion In this paper, I have discussed the forms, distribution and functions of deference pragmatic markers in Nigerian investigative hearing. These deference markers have mainly taken the shape of general, official, social and religious titles. The analysis further indicates that general titles have the highest rate of occurrence and that complainants/defendants used the highest number of deference markers in addressing the chair of the panel. This further indicates the asymmetrical power relationship

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that exists among the complainants/defendants, the chairman of the panel and other members of the HP. The study shows that defence markers are not only used to show deference but to also perform other textual and interpersonal functions such as bidding and allocating turns. The analysis further shows that the distribution of these deference markers indexes the formal context, social status and the roles of the participants in the hearings. The use of deference markers signals shared sociocultural and professional knowledge in a postcolonial setting. Future work may consider comparative studies of deference markers in other postcolonial and institutional settings.

References Akindele, F. & Adegbite, W. (1999). The Sociology and Politics of English in Nigeria: An Introduction. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press. Afful, A. (2007). Address forms and variation among university students in Ghana. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 16(2), 179–196. Aijmer, K. (2013). Understanding Pragmatic Markers: A Variational Pragmatic Approach. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Aijmer, K. (2014). Pragmatic markers. In K. Aijmer & C. Rühlemann (Eds.), Corpus Pragmatics: A Handbook (pp. 195-218). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Anchimbe, E. (2011). On not calling people by their names: Pragmatic undertones of sociocultural relationships in a postcolony. Journal of Pragmatics, 43 (6), 1472-1483. Berlin, N. L. (2007) Cooperative conflict and evasive language: the case of the 9-11 commission hearings. In A. Fetzer (ed.) Context and Appropriateness (pp. 167-199). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Bernard, T. (2009). Justificatory Discourse of the Perpetrator in TRC Testimonies: A Discourse‐historical Analysis (Unpublished master’s thesis). Stellenbosch University.

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Bock, Z. (2011). Code-switching: An appraisal resource in TRC testimonies. Functions of Language, 18 (2), 183-209. Brinton, Laurel (1996). Pragmatic Markers in English: Grammaticalization and Discourse Functions. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Buysse, L. (2012). So as a multifunctional discourse marker in native and learner speech. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(13), 1764-1782. Chiluwa, I. (2010). Nigerian English in informal email messages. English World‐Wide, 31(1), 40–61. Fragale, A. R. Sumanth, J. J., Tiedens, L. Z. & Northcraft, G. B. (2012). Appeasing equals: Lateral deference in organizational communication. Administrative Science Quarterly, 57 (3), 373– 406. Fraser, B. (1996). Pragmatic markers. Pragmatics, 6(2), 167 -190. Fraser, B. (2006). Towards a theory of discourse markers. In K. Fischer (eds.) Approaches to Discourse Particles (pp. 189-204). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Fraser, B. (2013). Combinations of contrastive discourse markers in English. International Review of Pragmatics 5, 318-340. Han, D. (2011). Utterance production and interpretation: A discourse- pragmatic study on pragmatic markers in English public speeches. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 2776-2794. Haugh, M. (2011). Respect and deference. In M. Locher & S. Graham (eds.), Interpersonal Pragmatics (pp. 271-288). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Ilie, C. (2005). Politeness in Sweden: parliamentary forms of address. In L. Hickey & M. Stewart (eds.), Politeness in Europe (pp. 174- 188). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Jucker, A. H. & Taavitsainen, I. (2003). Diachronic perspectives on address term systems: Introduction. In I. Taavitsainen & A. H. Jucker (eds), Diachronic Perspectives on Address Term Systems (pp. 1–25). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Meinig, B. (1998). Public Hearings: When and How to Hold Them. MRSC publications. Retrieved June 2, 2008 from http://www.mrsc.org/focuspub/hearings.aspx

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Odebode, I. (2011). Politeness phenomenon in Abiku names among the Yoruba Africans: A pragmatic study. Cross‐cultural Communication, 7 (4), 127-132. Odebunmi, A. (2006). A pragmatic reading of Yerima's proverbs in 'Yemoja Attahiru' and 'Dry Leaves on Ukan Trees'". Intercultural Pragmatics, 3 (2), 153–170. Oyetade, S. O. (1995). A sociolinguistic analysis of address forms in Yoruba. Language in Society, 24, 515-535. Rendle-Short, J. (2007). 'Catherine, you’re wasting your time': Address terms within the Australian political interview. Journal of Pragmatics 39, 503–1525. Sacks, H. Schegloff, E. A. & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking for conversations. Language, 50 (4), 696 - 735. Spencer-Oatey, H. (2008). Face (im)politeness and rapport. In H. Spencer-Oatey (ed), Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory (pp. 11-47). London/New York: Continuum. Taiwo, R. (2009). The functions of English in Nigeria from the earliest times to the present day. English Today, 98, 5 (2), 3-10. Unuabonah, F. (2011). Event models: A socio-cognitive study of selected interrogations in 2008 quasi-judicial public hearing on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration in Nigeria. Studies in Literature and Language, 3 (1), 37-44. Unuabonah, F. (2012). The generic structure of presentations in quasi-judicial public hearings on the FCT administration in Nigeria in 2008. California Linguistic Notes, 37 (2), 1-23. Unuabonah, F. (2015). The generic structure of a public hearing. In A. Odebunmi & J. Mathangwane (eds), Essays on Language, Communication and Literature in Africa (pp. 105–130). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Unuabonah, F. (2016). Contextual beliefs in a Nigerian quasi-judicial public hearing. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 51(5), 619–633.

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Unuabonah, F. (2017a). But as a stance marker in Nigerian investigative public hearings. Pragmatics & Society, 8 (3), 400- 420. Unuabonah, F. (2017b). “Are you saying …?” Metapragmatic comments in Nigerian quasi-judicial public hearings. Pragmatics, 27(1), 115–144. Unuabonah, F. (2018a). Forms of address and language ideologies: The case of a southwestern Nigerian university. Linguistik Online, 91 (4), 105-119. Unuabonah, F. (2018b). Direct quotations in Nigerian investigative public hearings. Text &Talk, 38(4), 503–524. Unuabonah, F. & Gut, U. (2018). Commentary pragmatic markers in Nigerian English. English World‐Wide, 39 (2), 193-213. Verdoolaege, A. (2009). Dealing with a traumatic past: The victim hearings of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and their reconciliation discourse. Critical Discourse Studies, 6(4), 297-309.

List of abbreviations Def: defendant Comp: complainant Sen.: senator Chair: chairman

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An Exploration of Ecocritical Agenda in Ebinyo Ogbowei’s “Vultures” and “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps”

Okafor, Adachukwu Amalachukwu Federal University Oye-Ekiti [email protected]

Abstract This study explores ecocritical theory, to study the poetics of Ebinyo Ogbowei: “Vultures” and “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps”. Findings reveal that the author engaged a combative, lamentational, and revolutionary style that portrays the devastations of the ecosystem in the Niger Delta. His poems paint the picture of the pitiable state and the despicable condition of the Niger Delta environment, further confirming that their land is under the siege of ecological and economical imperialism. The study concluded that the negligence, exploitation and degradation of Niger Delta is a time bomb which can explode at any time, and further plunge the zone into unimaginable depth of ecological disaster. To avert this, both government and multinational oil companies operating in the zone need to put in place measures that can solve and prevent further despoliation. Key Words: Degradation, Ecocritical Agenda, Niger Delta Literature, Ebinyo Ogbowei.

Introduction It will be very difficult to divorce writers and their works from their environment. This can rightly be attributed to the mimetic nature of literature, which makes distinctive peculiarities of their environment through written works of art. Nwankwo Arthur observes in this vein that “the relevance of the writer is located in his grasp and understanding of the interplay of social forces, the plenum of forces in continuous tension within his socio-political reality and how he harnesses his talent in relation to these forces” (27). Consequently,

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Niger Delta (protest) literature is borne out of the desires of writers in the region and beyond to interface with the socio-economic peculiarities. These writers have evolved a unique form of literature that interrogates the wanton spoliation of the ecosystem in the Niger Delta region. Undoubtedly, the region remains an area, lacerated with creeks and rivers. Cartographically, it is one of the largest wetlands in Africa, measuring about 360,000 square kilometres and well known for the abundance of crude oil. It is expected that man’s environment should aid his growth and development at all levels. Unfortunately, the people of Niger Delta, who are mostly farmers and fishermen, are constantly faced with oil pollution that destroys the water, land and aquatic bodies. As a region endowed with rich natural resources that account for so much wealth in the nation’s coffers, it is regrettable that most of the inhabitants still languish in crushing poverty. To explain the unimaginable level of poverty in the region, a former chairman of Niger Delta Commission (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu notes that: Since the 1950’s, petroleum operatives have caused great devastations to the Niger Delta. These have impacted negatively on fishing and farming which are no longer productive enough to feed the area. In Ogoni for instance, food is now important in an area once known as food basket of the Niger Delta. Although all major oil explorations and production companies are located in the region, it is still the least developed area of Nigeria. (11)

As a result of the government’s negligence and the destruction of their primary source of living, inhabitants of the region have been denied their dignity, as they are at the mercy of abject poverty. Consequently, they are frustrated having made various attempts to address their pitiable conditions to no avail. This has severally led to proliferated bunkering and pipe line vandalization by the youths of Niger Delta region. The pathway to the development of any community should

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encourage and expand human choices, thereby, giving them the enablement to live a longer, happier and healthier life. However, the scenario that has played out in Niger Delta has been that of anguish, frustration and brutality. The activities of multinational oil companies have not only rendered their lands less arable; the inhabitants’ conditions of existence have become a “living hell”. Affirming this, Onyema Chris posits that

While oil pollution devastates the land and waterscape, gas flaring emits noxious flames of inferno that toxifies the air. By extratextual resonance, these gory ecocidal acts connect to the horrific environmental experiences that the Ogoni know, and the way Shell, the foremost and largest multinational oil company in Nigeria, lives up to its name: raining Shell fire and flames of S(hell) that shell shock the Delta lands and reduce their lives to mimicry. (205)

In view of the foregoing, the focus of this contribution will be hinged on protest of Niger Delta devastations. The thrust will particularly be on Ogbowei’s attempt to preach the ecocritical message through his poems “Vultures” and “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps” as signals towards averting the imminent danger that may befall the nation. Therefore, in assessing the ecocritical explorations of the above poems, the subsequent lines of this paper offer an interrogation of the origin of environmental crisis and its effects in Niger Delta, and the use of ecocritical theory as a tool for analysing the issues raised in the Ogbowei’s selected poems.

Origin of Environmental Crisis and its Effects in Niger Delta The genesis of Niger Delta environmental degradation dates back to the discovery of crude oil in the region in 1956. In 1957, commercial excavation and processing of the good measure of viable petroleum

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realized in Ogoni commenced. This undoubtedly attracted some multinational oil companies like Chevron, Shell, who explored Ogoni land without reservation, and to the detriment of people who have always known Ogoni as their home. These people were forced out of their habitable environment without adequate compensation or negotiation. The constitutional amendment of Nigerian government in 1979 automatically made the federal government bona fide owner of every territory in Nigeria and gave government power to share the oil- rich areas to oil companies of their choice. To worsen the issue, landowners were compensated based on the value of crops on the land, and not actually on the worth of the land. The activities of these multinational oil companies damaged the crops, farm lands and economic trees. Eregha & Irughe, while lamenting this deplorable condition suffered by the people of Ogoni complain that “it is unfortunate that these oil activities have destroyed the extensive mangrove forests in the area. Apart from the illegal logging brought on by increased accessibility to forests, oil exploitation itself has depleted biodiversity, especially, at ramp site flow stations and terminals” (164). Another primary effect of this exploration is natural gas flaring. This is practised because of the enormous expense incurred in the course of demarcating commercial gas from oil. Due to the fact that companies in Nigeria harvest natural gas for commercial purposes, they prefer to extract it from deposits where they are always seen as being in isolation, and non-associated gas. Thus, the associated gas is burned off to decrease cost. Adati, Ayuba Kadafa notes that “about 45.8 billion kilo watts of heat is discharged in to the atmosphere from 1.8 cubic feet of gas every day in Niger Delta region, leading to temperature that render large areas uninhabitable” (44). Ndubuisi & Asia recount that “gas flaring in the Niger Delta is the major source of carbon and gaseous substances that contaminate the air, land, shallow ground water resources resulting in greenhouse effect and global warming process” (20). The aftermath of this is not just obvious in the degradation of the environment; it is also

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an attack on the health of the masses. The hotness from gas flaring destroys the vegetation, kills the mangrove swamps and negatively affects the growth of plants. This is the impact of gas flaring on agriculture. The downpour of acidic rain is another dangerous effect of gas flaring. It releases toxic components in the atmosphere that mainly contributes to the dominantly experienced acid rain. The fumes which are generated from gas flaring mixes up with water in the cloud, and falls back to the earth as acid rain, leading to damage of whatever it touches. The crave for breath of fresh air seems far-fetched as gas flaring keeps generating pollution, which introduces chemicals that include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other toxic components that causes harm to human health. People who are exposed to this are left prone to respiratory problems. Unfortunately, no one can quantify the level of harm it has caused for the people of this region. Emphasizing more on this, Tawari & Abowei point out that “these chemicals can aggravate asthma, cause breathing difficulties and pain, as well as chronic bronchitis. Benzene, known to be emitted from gas flares in undocumented quantities are well recognized as a cause for leukaemia and other blood related diseases”. The duo further observes that:

Aside from data collected by a few individuals and corporate organizations at scattered locations, there is no comprehensive and empirical database on the magnitude of the hazard and its deleterious effects on the ecosystem and people in the region. Also, the existing network of meterological stations is too coarse to provide data covering the whole region like it was stated initially, some of the effects of this which includes the formation of acid rain, soil pollution and water pollution contribute immensely to global warming. (98)

Though President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal government initiated a project of Ogoni clean up in 2016, it is rather unfortunate

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that till the present moment, much has not been accomplished to that effect. This, without doubt, has resulted in a feel of betrayal of the people by the government that swore to protect their interest. As reported in Vanguard newspaper of June 28, 2018 by Davies Iheamnachor, the spokesman of MOSOP Fegalo Nsuke said the clean- up project has suffered neglect, thereby endangering more lives. He reveals that

You may still recall that in June 2016, the Nigerian president represented by Vice President Osinbanjo had launched an elaborate flag-off programme for the clean-up of polluted Ogoni land. It has taken nearly two years since that noise was made and nothing is yet to be seen. In an emergence, where people are dying by the day, should it take two years to implement a safety and rescue programme? He goes further “I feel it’s all a very crooked process, and the real intention of the government and Shell is to tap the Ogoni oil without negotiating Ogoni interests. (www.vanguardnewspaper.ng)

The struggle for survival in a degraded environment birthed Ken Saro- Wiwa’s fight for cause of Niger Delta land. Though his unjust execution with eight other Ogoni indigenes on November 10, 1995 by General Ibrahim Sani Abacha’s dictatorial regime caused national and international uproar, their death paved way for other writers of Niger Delta literature. Among which are Joseph Ushie, Ibiwari Ikiriko, Tanure Ojaide, Ebinyo Ogbowei, Ebi Yeibo etc. This study therefore intends to offer a detailed investigation of the selected poems of Ebinyo Ogbowei, and his style of advocacy for a Niger Delta environment devoid of degradation. In doing this, the study relies on ecocriticism as a theoretical framework.

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Ecocriticism and the Ecocritical Movement The emanation of environmental writing can be traced back to the British Romantics like Wordsworth and Coleridge who conspicuously relied on nature in their writings, expressing their perspectives on the beauty of nature. These environmentalists paved way for the formal study of ecocritical theory in literature. Nick DeMott, clarifying the emergence of ecocriticism in the literary parlance notes that:

Peter Barry, another ecocritic, provides a sense of when Ecocriticism may have officially arrived, positing that William Rueckert’s 1978 essay, Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism, was the first to explicitly reference the term Ecocriticism; Barry also points to Karl Kroeber’s 1974 article “Home at Grasmere” as the first to use the term ecological in literary criticism. At any rate, we understand the 1970s to be when Ecocriticism was manifested in literary research. (www.medium.com)

DeMott recounts that Cheryll Glotfelty advocated the use of the term ecocriticism as a replacement for the study of nature writing. She is therefore considered as the originator of ecocriticism in the United States of America. Her anthology, The Ecocriticism Reader and as well as the association for which she functions a co-founder - the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (the ASLE), which has not ceased to publish its own journal — ISLE (Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment) confirms her commitment to the study of ecology in literature. Interestingly, the ecocriticism movement which was intuitively conceived from the wish to meliorate how humans have treated the environment was achieved through literary works and writings. In recap, ecocriticism can literarily be summarized as a study of the affinity between literature and the environment. It is an attempt

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to critically examine the living organism in a natural environment, and their relationship to that environment. The study of ecocriticism, therefore emphasizes the need and importance of planet earth surviving in twenty-first century. Ecocriticism according to Bertens Hans “examines representations of landscape and of nature in its original state” (2000). It also goes beyond looking at the original state to examining its use in almost all phases of our daily endeavour. In a bid to get a grounded understanding of the term ‘ecocriticism’, Glotfelty Cheryll records that “ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment” (xix). She further explains that “just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth centred approach to literary studies”. By the above phrase, “earth centred approach to literary studies”, one gets a clearer understanding that ecocriticism tries to decipher how nature has overtime been represented in literary works of art. Ecocritics, according to Garrad Greg, “generally tie their cultural analysis explicitly to a green moral and political agenda” (3). This goes to explain the reason that pollution has to be curbed so as to give natural habitat environmental justice; since the welfare of the humans are largely dependent on the measure of local pollution that have been managed in one way or the other. In view of this, most writers of nature have tried to eulogize the environment in their writings. Ebinyo Ogbowei, a Niger Delta poet has over time devoted most of his poems to the peculiarities of environmental concern in his collections: Heedless Ballot Box (2005), Song of a Dying River (2009), Town Crier’s Song (2009), Marsh Boy (2013). In achieving the objectives of this article, the focus is on analyzing the ecocritical agenda in two purposively selected poems “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps” and “Vultures” from his collection: Song of a Dying River and Marsh Boy and Other Poems.

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Ecocritical Agenda in Ebinyo Ogbowei’s “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps” and “Vultures” In “Welcome to our Smouldering Swamps”, Ogbowei’s display of protest motif and his eloquence on the unimaginable level of devastations in Niger Delta is a proof of his virility in the advocacy of an environment free from degradation. The poem is copiously preoccupied with lamentations of how the inhabitants of the region have always been ill-treated despite their immense contribution to the nation’s economy. The poem is an explicit narration of how environmental decay has heinously struck the people of the Niger Delta and how they have been politically dispossessed of the resources with which they are endowed. Alluding to exploitative and ruthless politicians, he writes, “you who’d kill your way to oil wells and gas fields”, the personae figuratively welcomes perpetrators to “swamps of death”. Referring to Niger Delta as a “swamp of death” brings the region to limelight as a killing field, a swampy terrain where death gallivants about killing in droves. The region has become a dungeon where culprits of oil theft are confined and killed afterwards, in revenge of the plight they have put the Niger Deltans through. Alliteratively alluding to the affected communities of Niger Delta area as “starving swamps”, the poet laments on the irrelevance of making promises about enticing amenities to a desolate community, while neglecting the needful which entails putting a stop to the spoilage of their environment. These irrelevant gestures which are dishonestly considered by the government to be the primary development that the region needs are made explicit in the poem as follows:

…what are schools and clinics to the vanishing ones What are water pumps and power mowers What are cruisers and suvs to the swamp dwellers

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What use is Rembrandt to the blind What lesson could he learn from the blinding Samson What lesson could he learn from a bankrupt painter

What use is Tchaikovsky to the deaf What lesson could he learn from the queen of spades… (Lines 13-15, 24-26, 30-31)

It is not out of place to think the government is only providing these social amenities, so as to keep gaining undeterred access to the communities’ natural resources. It is in view of the foregoing that one agrees with Duru Emmanuel in his report about the region stating that:

Experience of the area has shown that even when shell provided these amenities, they only facilitate the exploitation of the communities as evidenced in the construction of its access roads that link up its various oil and gas fields, and not necessarily to develop the host communities. (40)

The following metaphors “vanishing ones”, “swamp dwellers”, “the blind”, “bankrupt painter” and “the deaf” recreate a picture of a society in serious need of urgent attention and help. They directly convey to the minds of the readers, the fact that essential needs of a community in swampy environment are not necessarily luxurious standard of living or exotic cars, but making their surroundings devoid of exploitations. Ogbowei further decries that if the environmental safety of the Niger Delta inhabitants is not taken as a priority by the government, it will be difficult to have an average young Niger Deltan “sprout his

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dream in his smouldering swamps”, and “play deep thinking hamlet” . These realisations elaborate on the fact that a conducive environment surely enhances all spheres of human development. The devastations, according to the poet, are not only particular with creeks and swamps, the streets also experience pollution:

…a steaming sewage truck explodes across the streets Khobar tower totter fall Two errant jet crashing into a cxrystall hill; The twin totters fall… (lines 52-55)

To explain the above, the account of Gordini Darrah is crucial. He recounts that the nature of loss encountered by this region was such that in “October 1998, an oil pipeline fire holocaust killed about 1,000 persons in Jeese (Idjerhe) near Sapele in Urhobo area of Delta state”. He expatiates more that “the outrage generated by this environmental disaster united the nations of the Niger Delta against the Nigerian government and its multinational oil allies and cohorts” (12). In vengeance, Ogbowei poeticises that the inhabitants’ revolt by ensuring that none of the perpetrators should go unpunished:

…al tafia takes to the sea A daring dinghy takes on a destroyer Al tafia takes to the sea A bully is bloodied Whines like a wounded dog…(lines 58-62)

In affirmation to the above, Nwahunanya notes that “a number of extreme actions have been taken in some cases by youths, in an angry response to what they justifiably perceive as government’s unwillingness to address their problems, activities which has culminated in militancy and hostage taking” (45). Emphasizing more on the restiveness of Niger Delta youths, Psalms Chinaka posits that “the people of Niger Delta region have become inexorably trapped in violence partly by the need to maintain a firm grip on the levers of

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power and mainly by the sheer need to have their grip on the levers of power and mainly by the sheer need to have their own cuts into what they believe is their own” (28). In “Vultures”, Ogbowei referred to various multinational oil companies as vultures who keep feasting on the carcasses of the people they destroyed. In lamentation, the poet gives a description of how oil moguls have sought booties in Niger Delta without really considering the aftermath of their actions. In further illustration, activities of oil companies are likened to features of most wild animals like leopard, buzzards, vultures and other predatory animals. Just like above- mentioned mammals, they are only after acquiring the wealth of the region regardless of its adverse environmental effects of their actions. Sadly, these selfish acts merely result in depletion of the fauna as listed in lines (14-16 & 18) below. …a dead gull a dead turtle fish washed up shore a maimed manatee.

The helplessness of the inhabitants who dwell in this despicable environmental condition is also emphasized above. It is disheartening that the surviving ones have nowhere to stay because their habitation has been brutally damaged. Despite the fact that activities of these oil companies have rendered sea creatures homeless, scavenging for rich resources in Niger Delta does not cease:

Vultures dig deep into the heart of moaning marsh land Scavenge profits from slick-spoiled shores… (lines 22-24)

What makes the above situation more pitiable is the level of indifference on the part of the perpetrators who did not deem it necessary to compensate the people whose means of livelihood they

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are destroying. Recounting a similar experience of oil exploration, Nwahunanya notes:

We must not fail to mention the effect of the blow- out in April 2010 in a shell offshore well in the Gulf of Mexico, an incident that released so much psychological tremors and condemnatory comments from United States legislators, due to its negative impact on the lives of the inhabitants and the entire environment in the Gulf coast lines. The American House of Representatives in fact insisted that Shell must pay $20 billion as compensation for the damage caused by the blow- out from their deep-sea off-shore well. Yet this is the kind of experience that the people of Niger Delta have been going through for nearly half a century of American, British, French and Italian oil companies’ oil extraction, without anyone recognizing the need for compensation. (47-48)

Even when it seemed the government is making efforts to ameliorate the environmental condition in Niger Delta through creation of amnesty programmes, the militias have discredited the supposed good intentions with the realities of underdevelopment in the region. This is Ogbowei’s position, that the environmental condition in Niger Delta should be made habitable, since the federal government is also a beneficiary of the region’s resources.

Conclusion Thus far, the poems of Ebinyo Ogbowei, with emphasis on the ecological disorder of the Niger Delta region have been examined. It is important to note from the foregoing that the ecocritical agenda of Ogbowei to the devastations in Niger Delta is combative, lamentational, and revolutionary. His avid picture of the Delta lands

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lachrymal state brought to the fore the despicable condition of the Niger Delta environment, and the confirmation that their land is under the siege of ecological and economical imperialism. The analysed poems above constitute a call and a reminder to the Nigerian government that, to avert the recrudescence of what the nation experienced before the amnesty programme, fast tracking the cleaning up of the region should be made the nation’s utmost priority, so that the relative peace being enjoyed in the region can endure.

Works Cited Adati, Ayuba Kadafa. ‘‘Oil Exploration and spillage in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria’’. Journal of Civil and Environmental Research.2.3 (2012):44. Web. May 29th, 2018. Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. U.S.A: Routeledge Taylor and Francis. 2008. Darrah, Gordini. ‘‘Revolutionary Pressures in Niger Delta Literatures’’. From Boom to Doom: Protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the Niger Delta. Owerri,Imo State: Springfield Publishers Ltd. 2011. Duru, Emmanuel. Oil Multinationals and the Niger Delta Crisis. Owerri: African Scholars’ Publishing Company. 1999. Web. August 30th, 2018. Eregha, Perekunah Bright and Irughe, Ehigiator. ‘‘Oil Induced Environmental Degradation in the Nigeria’s Niger Delta: The Multipier Effects’’. Journal of sustainable development in Africa. 11.4 (2009): 160-175. Garrad, Greg. Ecocriticism: The New Critical Idiom. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 2004. Glofelty, Cheryll and Fromm, Harold. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. London: University of Georgia Press. 1996. Iheamnachor, Davies. ‘‘Ogoni Clean Up: Continuing Delay Triggers Anger’’. Vanguard Newspaper. Web. August 30th, 2018.

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Nick DeMott. A Brief History of Ecocriticism: Where Literature and the Environment Cross Paths. www.medium.com. August 25th, 2018. Niger Delta Development Commission. The Journey so far: 200-2003. Ed. Anietie Usen. Port Harcourt: Niger Delta Development Commission, 2003 Nwahunanya, Chinyere. ‘‘The Lachrymal Consciousness in the Literature of the Niger Delta: Its Implication for Conflict Resolution’’ From Boom to Doom: Protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the Niger Delta. Owerri, Imo State: Springfield Publishers Ltd. 2011. Nwankwo, Agwuncha. The Writer and the Politics of His Environment. Harvest Time ed. Onuora O. Enekire. Enugu: Snaap. 2001.27- 39. Ndubuisi, O.L and Asia I.O. ‘‘Environmental Pollution in Oil Producing Areas of the Niger Delta Basin Nigeria: Empirical Assessment of Trends and People’s Perception’’. Journal of Environmental Research.1. (2007): 1-4. Web. August 30th, 2018. Ogbowei, Ebinyo. Song of a Dying River. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited. 2009. Onyema, Chris. ‘‘Jungle and Oil Green: Currents of Environmental Discourse in Four Upland Niger Delta Narratives’’. From Boom To Doom: Protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the Niger Delta. Owerri, Imo State: Springfield Publishers Ltd. 2011. Psalms, Chinaka. ‘‘Demythologizing the Masquerade of Revolution From The Niger Delta Creeks: Threat To Global Peace’’. From Boom to Doom: Protest and conflict resolution in the literature of the Niger Delta. Owerri, Imo State: Springfield Publishers Ltd. 2011. Tawari, C.C and Abowei, J.F.N. ‘‘Air Pollution in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 1.2 (2012) 95-98. Web. August 13th, 2018.

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A Socio‐Semiotic Study of the Meaning Potentials in Hash Tagged‐Messages in Placards of Killings in Benue State, Nigeria

Ugoala Bibian [email protected]

Yakubu Anthonia [email protected] National Open University of Nigeria

Abstract This study examines how the visual and the linguistic elements in the placards examined combine to pass across the meanings in the placards. Through the prism of Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory and Kress and Van Leeuwen’s multimodality, the study sees the hashtag as an emerging form of discourse, an action driver rhetorical strategy and as a technique to critique social injustice. The objectives of the study are: to reveal the interplay of semiotic resources in creating meaning in the placards under study and to reveal the innovative syntactic patterning of the hashtagged messages as forms through which meaning can be expressed. The data examined in this study are seven online placards’ messages with the hashtag about the killings in Benue State, Nigeria collected over a six-month period. The study found that the placards, though composed largely by the elites, are composed to deliver cogent information to the appropriate quarters. Keywords: Hashtag, Benue State killings, social activism, placards, social protest, extra-judicial killings.

Introduction Among one of the things promised by President Buhari’s administration who came to power in May 2015 is to fight and defeat terrorism and crime of all sorts. The increase in extra-judicial killings

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in some parts of the country show that the administration is far from achieving this feat. Crises between herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt and other parts of Nigeria represents a clear and present danger to national security and development. In early 2016, militant herdsmen stormed Agatu Local Government Area in Benue State, killing close to 2,000 persons in what many, including the United Nations, described as genocide. Since the advent of the Buhari administration, despite concerted efforts to check the escalating crisis, Benue State has recorded over 30 incursions of herdsmen across different communities. Because of the constant clashes by the Fulani herdsmen and the people of Benue state, the Governor of Benue State Samuel Ortom and his Nasarawa State counterpart, Tanko Al-Makura, held several meetings to check the invasion of Fulani militia from the neighbouring states, this culminated in the signing of a peace agreement after the Agatu massacre. All the peace efforts seemed to fail and the embattled communities were left with no choice but to pressure the Benue State government to enact a law prohibiting open grazing and cattle rustling. The people also wanted the government to recognise ranching of all animals—cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, etc. in order to put an end to the killings. In 2017, the government came up with a bill to prohibit open grazing in Benue State. The bill, which was subjected to public scrutiny and inputs by the people through public hearings and debates from stakeholders across the state, including herdsmen, was passed and signed into law in May 2017. A six-month window period was allowed for sensitisation and advocacy before the law came into full effect on November 1, 2017. On the day of the commencement of the implementation, the Governor addressed the inhabitants of Benue State, advising all livestock breeders to fully comply with the law to allow for a peaceful coexistence of all residents in the state. On the New Year’s Day 2018, Benue State was thrown into deep mourning, because suspected herdsmen staged two days of coordinated attacks on six communities, the first since the commencement of the implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition Law. The attacks took people unawares, as they happened at the peak of the New Year festivities. It left several persons with varying degrees of injuries while scores of houses and properties were destroyed. There is a worldwide outrage against the genocide

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allegedly being perpetrated against Benue State and the Middle Belt Region by the Fulani herdsmen. Stories and horrid pictures of the destruction and killings filled the newspapers, television and different social media platforms. The people of Benue State staged protests, to express their grievances using placards which deployed different semiotic resources. The protesters employed different hashtags draw attention to and organise their cause. Hashtag is a social media convention used to index keywords or topics on social media platforms. Hashtags are also deployed offline as a label that consists of a word or phrase tag with a hash symbol in front of it. Hashtag is a relatively new way of communication that creates communities of people interested in the same topic. A hash (#) draws attention to the information it is tagged with. This way, it acts as a marker for meta-data, which is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. It is against this background that this study through a socio-semiotic analysis takes a look at this emerging form of discourse through placards with hashtags used by the people of Benue State to protest the unlawful killings in the state. The aim of this paper therefore is to explore the interplay of semiotic resources in placards with hashtagged messages and how innovations in such platform were creatively deployed to create to construct meaning. The argument here is that, agreed social conventions online can also make meanings offline. Machin (2002 pp. x), says that apart from linguistic devices, other semiotic resources, especially visuals have been the focus of study for other disciplines for long, but for language-based disciplines, this has not been so. This study is partly a response to this call, as it focuses on other semiotic resources that are jointly explored to create meaning. The visuals in the placards with hashtagged messages are not neutral, but defined social reality. The objectives of this research are therefore to:

 reveal the interplay of semiotic resources in creating meaning in the placards under study  reveal the innovative syntactic patterning of the hashtagged messages as forms through which meaning can be expressed

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The research questions are:  In what ways do the semiotic resources jointly create meaning in the placards under study?  In what ways are the innovative syntactic patterning of the hashtagged messages formed through which meaning can be expressed?

Origin of the Hash and Hashtag The symbol ‘#’ is called various things in different places. In the United States and Canada, it is called a number sign or sometimes a pound sign. But in other places, such as the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is called a hash sign. A hash or the pound symbol, or the octothorpe is a label represented by the sign (#). A hashtag consists of a word or short phrase tag with a hash symbol in front of it, for example,#bringbackourgirls#,#foodbasketNotBloodBathState#,stopt hegenocidebyfulaniherdsmen# Social media platforms have both old and new forms of communicating and interacting with the public. After Chris Messina, Twitter employee, sent the first tweet containing a hashtag in August 2007 (Kirkpatrick, 2011), the innovation has been deployed in other platforms to serve different purposes. The popularity of the hashtag in tweets made it to spread to other social media platforms like Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Linkedin and Flickr. Kirkpatrick (2011) borrowed a leaf from the technological usage, proposing a similar system to be used on Twitter to tag topics of interest on the micro blogging network. The objective is that people interested in similar topics can find it easily when they search the hashtagged keywords on Twitter. The first use of the term “hashtag” is found in a blog post by Steve Boyd. Wang et al (2011) define hashtags as non-spaced words, abbreviations, phrases following the ‘#’ sign. Hashtags indicate topics or themes, and they represent an important innovation in social media communication. Today, they are primarily used to categorise and index discussions, ideas, products, sharing and interaction all represented by pictures, videos or text-based messages on social media platforms. With all of these options, people are daily crafting creative use of the hashtags to disseminate messages. Individuals and groups now deploy this innovation to subtly show the world their feelings, wish, anger about a particular throbbing issue. The social

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media thus creates a link between it, the society where an event happened and the entire world. The hashtag becomes in this case like an information lifeline. Bruns & Burgess (2011) say that hashtags can lead to the formation of ad hoc publics and communities, arguing that it is this community element that undergirds the power of hashtags. They aver that the networks/communities can be ephemeral and arise in response to emergencies or crises, or they can be more stable, long- term - developed to spread ideas, news, or opinions on a given issue. Despite the potential importance of hashtag, scholars have not explored the meaning potentials in placard messages with hashtags in registering societal protest. This study advances knowledge in this area by examining the interplay of semiotic resources in placards carried by the people of Benue State to express displeasure and connect with the audience over the extra judicial killings by Fulani herdsmen in the state. For some people, the hashtag may be fun, but for others it is a serious messaging signaling tool. Unconsciously, the social media is covertly persuading people to begin using an innovation - a new channel of communication, which has the ability to inject new voices into public discourse. This study is about how resources provided by online technology interact with other semiotic resources offline in the unfolding of meaning. Placards are card boards or poster inscriptions through which meanings are realised. They are visual forms of protest against an ongoing process, crises or opinion. They have evolved as important expression of the democratic right to freedom of speech and are most often used in a demonstration involving a march, chanting, or some other kinds of activities. Placards used in a demonstration are constructed so that they can physically be held by one or more people. Various linguistic and other semiotic resources may be used to create the message of the placard. The message itself may be verbal text only, or may integrate both visual and linguistic items in an artistic/pictorial way. Because of the ephemeral nature of placards, the designer aims to include the greatest amount of information in the most economical way, while at the same time delivering a cogent message that is immediately and easily understood. Social media and digital platforms do not operate solely based on their original makeup; they utilise media from other technologies and tools to add multidimensionality to what will be created on their platforms. Thus,

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the designers of the placards under scrutiny adopt the use of the hash - a social media tool in designing their messages to draw the public’s attention to the killings in Benue State.

Linguistic Innovation and Hashtags A linguistic innovation can be described as any change in any existing language system (Breivik and Jahr, 1989). In linguistics, to say there is an innovation means that there is a modification, a transformation, in any part of the branch of study of the language – morphology, phonology, syntax, and semantics. The innovation can arise out of the desire or need to pass across ideas, the ultimate aim of which is to communicate ideas to people. The innovation if permanent adds to the lexicon of the language in which it is added. In this case, the hashtag can add to or expand the meaning potential of linguistic structures it is attached to. A hashtag can be a single word, an abbreviation, an acronym, an invented combination of letters and numbers, or a phrase. The acronym and all letters and numbers must run together without spaces. There are no punctuations or symbols in the hashtag other than the ‘#’ symbol at the beginning of the word or phrase. An innovation can be used in a specific situation and fall into oblivion, like many linguistic forms which are lost without even being recorded. The way most hashtag messages appear is not the usual syntactic pattern of structuring messages, rather, they evolve to meet the need of users to communicate. Hashtags are not permanent; they soon fizzle out after serving the purpose for which they were created. But during the period they exist they are linguistic and non-linguistic forms through which ideas are expressed. Thus, the messages with hashtags on the placards of the Benue State killings may go into oblivion and may not be needed if the killings are stopped by the perpetrators and the relevant authorities in Nigeria.

Justification for the Study The focus is on the interplay of semiotic resources in placards carried by people demonstrating against the killings in Benue State by Fulani herdsmen. This paper therefore foregrounds the potency of the use of the hash tag in the dissemination of information and also to show that other than using hostile means to register protests, people’s voice can be heard through deploying subtle means of protest. This article

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explores how the placards multimodally construe a complex, yet readily accessible anti-homicide messages.

Literature Review Some critics have argued that hashtags in general tend to oversimplify the contexts of the injustices they describe (Gay, 2013; Murphy, 2013; Goldberg, 2014). They argue that the complex policies, politics, histories, and economics that led to these injustices foregrounded by the hash tagged messages cannot be reduced to a hashtag. We disagree with this submission and opine that the hashtagged messages may serve as a motivating tool and a link to people who may wish to further read about the issue(s) foregrounded by the hashtag. Taylor (2014) focusing on the #bringbackourgirls campaign, examines the use of the hashtag for activism. The study emerged in response to the April 14, 2014, abduction of 276 girls from a school in Chibok, in Nigeria by a militant group in Nigeria named Boko Haram, which can literally be translated as ‘‘Western education is a sin’’, objects to any form of Western education. In 2014, Ramaa Mosley, a film director in Los Angeles, first tweeted the hashtag #bringbackourgirls to bring attention to the event (Dixon, 2014). By April 30, 200,000 tweets per day contained this hashtag (Taylor, 2014). From the perspective of effective circulation, the #bringbackourgirls campaign achieved a stunning amount of publicity. There was the ability for participants to coordinate with each other - to tweet about the event in a concentrated period of time, building on each other’s insights. Although #bringbackourgirls offered an opportunity for many people to learn about the tragedy in Nigeria, Taylor opines that it simultaneously backgrounded the broader context of why this incident happened—and why it has been so difficult to find the missing girls and bring their captors to justice. Taylor criticised the hashtag for just bringing attention to an unjust scenario but never delving deeper into the economic and political complexities that gave birth to the scenario. The present study disagrees with Taylor’s view about the use of the hashtag, because, when an innovation is used to draw attention to an issue, it has in a way created awareness. Anyone interested to know more about the issue can further read it up. In another article, Chiluwa and Ifukor (2015) on #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook

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opine that it was not only a global campaign for the release of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram, but also a campaign for the rights of female children and rights to formal education. The authors applied the appraisal framework and critical discourse analysis to examine the discursive features of the campaign and the role of affective stance in the evaluation of social actors in the campaign discourse. Their findings reveal that #BringBackOurGirls campaign exhibits a great deal of affective vocabulary reflecting moods, feelings and emotional language in the representations of persons, groups and governments. Most of the evaluations reflect negative valence, which is often typical of public reactions to social media reports of crisis, or national disasters. The article suggests that social media campaigns and activisms can be fruitful if they are followed up by practical offline actions; otherwise, they will end up as mere propaganda tool. Obiaso (2015) reviewed the use of the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls in various instances for internet activism. The study examined the changing nature of international communication, from the traditional concept of restrictive diplomatic interactions between nations to the concept of liberalized online public sphere, occasioned by social media use of hashtags as auxiliary channels of international communication. It also investigates the strengths and weaknesses of the hashtag as an instrument of international mobilization. It was posited that as the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag campaign aptly demonstrated that hashtags have become formidable instruments for international public mobilization. The study found that online activities have the tendency to form a synergy with offline activities in other to create global mobilization. The paper suggests that other uses of hashtags and their composition should be studied. Saxton et. al (2015) examines the strategic use of hashtags in social media to advocate for change. One of the most unique yet understudied tools available on social media platforms is the hashtag. The study examines the hashtag used by 105 constituent members of the National Health Council. The study presents an inductive coding scheme of the types of hashtags employed, analyses inter-sectoral differences in hashtag usage, and examines the relationship between hashtag use and measures of the effectiveness of social media messages. The studies above especially Saxon et. al’s postulation show that the variation in the use of the hashtag presents a viable and

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inexhaustible data mine for analysts. There are little socio-semiotic efforts in analysing anti-killing placards’ messages with hashtags and specifically those produced for demonstrations in Benue State. The analysis presented in this article is thus an important addition to this body of research, and to the understanding multimodal construction of messages of placards carried to protest against perceived injustices. The studies reveal that the hashtag can act as a technique to draw people’s attention to a scenario.

Theoretical Underpinnings This study is hinged on Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DoI) (1962, 2003) and Kress and van Leuween’s multimodality (2006). Rogers’ DoI serves as a comprehensive framework for understanding the spread of an innovation and its driving factors accelerating the rate of adoption. It basically addresses users’ motivations and adoption behaviour. Diffusion is the dispersion of information about innovations throughout a social system in a defined time period. Diffusion of innovation (DoI) is a theory that helps to explain the adoption process of an innovation by modelling its entire life cycle according to the aspects of communications and human information interactions. Hence, Diffusion of Innovation theory offers valuable insights into understanding the uses and accessibility of new semiotic resources like the hashtag. It also assists in evaluating hashtag life cycles; thus, providing a spring board for analysts to analyse the hashtag as a communication tool. Studying innovation and its adoption to other platforms is important because an innovative tool or idea affects people in different domains in the society regardless of the form of the innovation. The DoI theory has been applied to various disciplines, including the humanities; the notion of innovation has been related to new products, ideas, services, methods, and inventions. Therefore, diffusion of innovation theory appears to be germane in explaining the spread and patterning of new tagging conventions. Rogers (1962), developed the first model of diffusion and defined diffusion of innovation as, “the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system”. For its adopter, an innovation could be any “idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual” (Rogers, 2003). The diffusion process consists of four key elements: innovation, the social system which the innovation affects,

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the communication channels of that social system, and time (Rogers, 2003). The focus of diffusion theory is on the means by which information about an innovation is disseminated, in this case, the use of hashtagged messages on placards for information dissemination. Although Rogers’ model is classic and widely established, it has several limitations regarding its predictive power relating to the dissemination of an innovation (Bruns & Burgess, 2011). This view by Bruns & Burgess (2011) has no direct implication for the present study because the innovative use of hash to tag messages in placards is primarily meant to draw attention to a cause, and to put an end to the cause. This therefore shifts attention away from the predictive power of the innovation---the hashtag to its immediate aim. Easley and Kleinberg (2010) say that the diffusion of innovations be they linguistic, behavioural or technological, occurs through a cascade in which the network members, consciously or unconsciously make choices, taking into account a number of factors that determine which forms, behaviours or technologies are more advantageous to be adopted in a given moment. The grassroots Benue protesters feel that tagging their messages with the hash may likely draw people’s attention to their messages. The works of Kress and van Leeuwen (2001, 2006) show that communication is ‘multimodal’ rather than ‘monomodal’. The works adopt systematic approaches to analysing the way visual resources create meaning. Multimodal analysis is concerned with theorising and analysing multiple semiotic resources. For example, visual elements, audio resources, all embody affordances which combine to create meaning in different socio-cultural contexts. Recognition of the contribution of all the aspects of the semiotic resources in general and in the importance of non-verbal aspects of texts in particular, has turned attention to semiotic devices in discourse other than the linguistic ones. In particular, the theory put forward by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) provides a useful framework for considering the communicative potential of visual devices in any medium. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) brought visual communication into the 21st century by applying socio-semiotic theory (a theory based upon meaning, social context and cultural context) to the understanding multimodality, a phenomenon they equate with understanding the modes of communication, but not necessarily the styles or meanings of that communication.

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Multimodality, a socio-semiotic theory looks at how people communicate and interact with one another, not just through writing (which is one mode) but also through speaking, gesture, placards, and visual forms such as hashtag. A mode is generally defined as a communication channel that a culture recognizes. Examples of modes are writing, gesture, posture, placards, font choice and colour, images, video, and even the interactions among them. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) who advocate multimodality and aver that people communicate in a variety of ways, and that in order to completely understand someone, the many modes they use to communicate must be observed and recognized. Multimodality describes communication practices in terms of the textual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and visual resources - or modes - used to compose messages. The collection of these modes, or elements, contributes to how multimodality affects different rhetorical situations or opportunities for increasing the understanding of an idea or concept. Everything from the placement of images to the organisation of the content, creates meaning. This is the result of a shift from isolated text being relied on as the primary source of communication, to the image including hashtag and other visuals being utilized more frequently in the digital age. Drawing from Halliday’s Systemic Functional Theory (2004), Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) state that the metafunctional principle provides a basis for examining the functionalities of semiotic resources and for analysing the ways in which semiotic choices interact in multimodal discourses to fulfill particular objectives. In this case to create awareness of the activities of the Fulani herders, and to call the attention of relevant authorities to put an end to the killings in Benue State. Every mode has a different modal resource, which is historically and culturally situated and which breaks it down into its parts, because each has distinct potentials and limitations for meaning. In the placards under study, every composite part of the placards produces meaning of the horrific happenings in Benue State. The meaning potential in each of the modes transcends the boundaries of the community where the event occurred to communicate to other people.

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Method Linguistic knowledge is used to analyse and explain phenomena related to the creation, usage and dissemination of hashtags messages in placards. The placards were downloaded from the online Google platform. So many visuals are available online about the Benue State killings, but we chose the placards that have the hash signs attached to the messages. They comprise placard messages carried by people protesting the killings in Benue State from January-June 2018. A qualitative content analyses approach was adopted in the analysis of the data. We omitted duplicate and irrelevant posts through manual screening of the data. The analysis of the meanings in the placards follows two stages: The first stage involves an inductive analysis of the hashtags used in each placard to identify communication strategies unique to the social media innovation. This involves identification of the various modes and how they jointly express the overall meaning of the placard. The second stage of the analysis looks at the modality and communicative forms of the placards. The visuals in the placards were all analysed alongside the hashtagged linguistic items

Data Analysis In analysing multimodal texts in any society there are various semiotic modes that complement one another in realizing meaning. In any given situation, different semiotic modes may redundantly code meanings or ‘overlap’ in their realisation of certain meanings, but each mode is also predisposed to the expression of certain types of meanings (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1990, p. 5).

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Plate 1#StopBenueKillingsNow

The hashtag in this placard exemplifies that used in Twitter platform. This message expresses an emphatic, unequivocal demand. There is an inter-semiotic reinforcement between the verbal proposals and the visual address and likely involvement of the viewer. The placards are not carried above the heads of the demonstrators but at eye level, seemingly to actively involve the viewer. Each lexical item in the hashtagged message is begun in upper case ostensibly for them to be read individually before being read jointly. The typography of the primary enhancer ‘BUHARI’ is a marked choice in terms of font positioning. ‘BUHARI’ is placed somewhere in the middle of the placard where viewers’ eyes are directly focused. The verbal and visual are digitally enhanced against a red background, perhaps to give the impression of the bloodshed in Benue State. The outline layout of the horrific images by the sides adds to the tone of fear in the land. The message apparently is directed to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, who has the constitutional power to deploy the relevant armed forces, being the commander-in-chief, to stop the killings in Benue State. The placard carriers are infuriated youths, who sang war songs, demanding President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation if he could not address the herdsmen’s menace. The visuals of dead people placed by the sides of the placard inter-semiotically realize the imperative command for the president to either act or resign. This placard combines multiple semiotic resources which collectively pass across meaning of the events and happenings in Benue State. The people’s wish for peace and prompt action from the president is clearly shown in the message on the placard.

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At the background of this placard are youths showing that the use of the hashtag though elitist, is mostly used by the youth who are the majority user of the social media platforms. #StopBenueKillingsNow is a recurring phrase in the mouth of the people of Benue, and this placard with the hashtag seem to reiterate the wish of the Benue people, and a message to those responsible for the killings in Benue to put an end to it. The meaning is further reinforced in the second proposition ‘Stop Fulani TERRORISTS Killings’. This seems to be directed to the Fulani herders on the one hand and the authorities on the other hand. The word ‘Terrorists’ in all capital letters seems to categorically say that the horrendous activities of the herders qualify them to be referred to as ‘Terrorists’ ‘BUHARI Act Now or Resign! is an imperative sentence, an emphatic demand as if shouting, and an order to the President who has been perceived by the people of Benue State as treating the Fulani herdsmen with kids’ gloves. The placard’s meaning is jointly expressed lexically and pictorially. The three declarative sentences though do not follow the normal syntactic pattern are punchy and direct. The first sentence, an imperative, has the hashtag, while the second sentence like the first has all lexical items too beginning with capital letters. The middle word ‘terrorist’ is in all capital letters making it stand out from the rest of the structure. Setting ‘BUHARI’ and ‘TERRORISTS’ all in capital letters could be to draw attention to the President (Buhari) who has the power to stop the terrorists.

Plate 2 #Benuemourns, #IstandwithBenue

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The iconic map of Benue State representing the people in deep mourning is symbolised by the dark colour of the map. The dark colour of the map here may combine the two extremes of meaning - good and bad. In this case, the knowledge of the happenings in Benue conjures in the mind of the viewer omnious, that is, darkness over Benue State as a result of the killings, and darkness can give way to light when the authorities concerned do the right thing by putting an end to the nefarious activities of the killer herdsmen who in the first place were responsible for the darkness. #IstandwithBenue seems to summarise the resolve to stand with the people in the enactment of the anti-grazing law and whatever will make for peace in Benue State. The placard demands that the audience mourn and stand with Benue State in this trying preiods. #Benuemourns is a minor sentence while #IStandwithBenue is a complete sentence. The verbal element ‘stand’ is an action verb and it is begun with capital letters seemimgly to forground it.

Plate 3. #MAFO

Unlike the placards of plates one and two, this uses acronym ‘#MAFO’ to pass across its message. One has to go beyond the acronym as one’s eyes move down to get the full meaning of the message. The hashtagged acronym acts as a cue signal for the audience to read the rest of the messages. As one reads the composite parts, with the background knowledge of events in the country, with some of the lexical items like ‘Fulani’, ‘ranch your cows’, ‘stop the killings’ the meanings unfolds before one sees Benue in the last phrase. There are

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factors, such as the size of the acronym and the ratio and density of the whole to the parts which need to be taken into consideration to get the meaning. ‘Ranch Your Cows’, ‘Stop The Killing’ and ‘NO GRAZING IN BENUE’ are three declarative statements that are so explicit and direct. The first one reinforces the acronysed message, likewise the second. They seem to be directed to the herders allegedly responsible for the killing. The first and last is a reinforcement of the anti-grazing law and a directive to the herders to abide by the anti-grazing law recently enacted by the government of Benue State. The meaning of the semiotic resources typically unfolds syntagmatically as a chain which is sequentially processed, and meaning culminates progressively as the text unfolds.

Plate 4 #PROSCRIBEFULANITERRORISTS

This placard has so many messages with the hashtag, the main focus #PROSCRIBEFULANITERRORISTS and six other messages (#FREE THE PRESS, #FREE ZEENAT, #FREE ZAKZAKY etc.). They jointly point to the injustice in the land. The placard carrier standing in front of the Ministry of Justice is symbolic, ostensibly to draw the ministry’s attention to the messages on the placard; not only of the killings in Benue State, but other injustice across the nation. Through #PROSCRIBEFULANITERRORISTS, he draws people’s attention to the

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lackadaisical attitude of the ministry in charge of prosecuting the alleged Fulani herders, responsible for the killings in Benue State. The symbol of justice is placed upside down and in monochrome rather than in natural colours; this renders it non- functional. Naturally, people stand on their feet not on their heads, the human image representing justice standing on its head shows an anomaly—the anomalous judicial system in the country. By using the hashtag, the protester enacts a desire to redirect government’s attention towards the systemic flouting of anti-grazing laws by the herders that led to this outcry and other injustice in the country. It appears, therefore, that this placard depicts injustice not only in Benue State but across the country as reinforced by the messages in smaller fonts (#FREE THE PRESS, #FREE ZEENAT, #FREE ZAKZAKY etc.). The other messages appear in smaller fonts making them less prominent than the message on top. The clause ‘Justice is on its head’ acts as a cue in assessing the meaning of the visual image. The visual image is thus processed through visual scanning of the parts that bear a relationship to each other within the context of the whole to understand the visual of the human image standing on its head. In other words, justice stands on its head when the press is not free, and when people are seemingly detained and not given justice by fair trial. This post will likely draw the attention of the judiciary to the killings in Benue State. The symbol of justice poorly represented by the designer seems to connote the poor and tortous judicial system in the country.

Plate 5. #ProtectMe

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This is a remixed image which merges visuals of two different shots. Ostensibly juxtaposing both visuals to set up a contrast between the rich and the poor as symbolized by the dignitaries under the cover of the umbrella, and the poor symbolized by the wailing women. The dignitaries are above as depicted in the visual and protected under the umbrella while the poor are under the rich and set at eye level enough for the viewer to engage with them. The long shot of the dignitaries in the background is enough to show the dignitaries and the distance between the security men giving them cover, and close up shot to bring the women crying to the viewers to feel their pains and empathize with them. Studies of visual processing (e.g. Ivry and Robertson, 1998) reveal that perception of the whole visual image takes precedence over perception of the parts, the whole is perceived before the parts in visual imagery. The remixed image gives meaning individually and jointly. The inserted picture of the wailing women is a passionate plea to the government symbolised by the security agent to protect individuals through the use of the pronoun ‘me’. The meaning of the iconic umbrella goes beyond mere covering of the dignitaries from either rain or sun. The umbrella covers only the dignitaries leaving out the common man. At the connotative level, the meaning of the umbrella expands. The average Nigerian man seems not to be protected by the law as depicted by the people crying outside the umbrella. At another level, the umbrella signifies the law only protecting the rich and influential in the society. The umbrella acts as a bridge between the two parts of the remixed placard and they jointly pass the implicit message of neglect of the common man by the government.

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Plate 6 # SPEAKOUT4BENUE

This is another remixed image. The hastagged message consists of lexical items and a numeral ‘4’ which replaces the preposition (for). The message is a declarative statement and directive to all concerned to speak out for Benue State in respect of the incessant killings in the state. The placard designer perhaps wants the viewer to read the remixed images together. As one’s eyes scan through the first image of burning objects, the eyes move leftwards to get the meaning encapsulated in the first. The burning objects remixed with the hashtag message boosts the hashtag’s underlying message of the destruction in Benue State as symbolised by the burning objects, the meaning can expand to be fire in Benue State. The placards with the hashtag jointly demand the attention of the authorities. The message under the hashtagged message is an elaboration of the first. The placard in a medium shot suggests a medium degree of social distance with the viewer; the viewer is partially brought into their world (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006, p. 124). The shot includes part of the details of the destruction caused by the herdsmen. A long shot would include unnecessary detail and a close up would lose some of the features that are important for displaying not just the action but the relation between the participants.

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Plate 7# SPEAKOUT4BENUE Like the placard of plate 6, this placard #SPEAKOUT4BENUE is a declarative statement urging people to speak out for Benue State against the injustice in the land. Syntactically, it consists of lexical items and a numeral ‘4’ which replaces the preposition (for). END THE BLOODSHED BENUE LIVES MATTER is a plea to the Fulanis and the government to end the deep-seated structural inequities in Benue State. The use of the bright red colour font for ‘BLOODSHED’ sets it apart from the other messages and suggests it is to be evaluated separately. The sight of the linguistic item ‘BLOODSHED’ can also symbolise danger.

Findings Findings from the analysis shows that the semiotic elements in the placards have jointly portrayed the meaning which the placards’ designer(s) seem to have in mind. Majority of the placard carriers are youths a correlation between the use of the hashtag and youngsters. The hashtag advocates a particular course of action for the government—a complete stoppage of the wanton destruction of property and lives in Benue State. Pictures, lexical items with hashtags generated local context for the placard carriers to raise awareness of the problem in Benue State. Activists considered this a successful intervention in drawing the attention of the stake holders responsible for enforcing law and order in Benue State. The structure of the hashtagged lexical items is different from the conventional syntactic

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patterning of clauses and sentences in English. Some of the lexical items in some structures were begun with capital letters. The structures though deviant, are enough for the meaning to be expressed; especially as the hashtag at the beginning of structures acts as a strong signalling device and draws attention to the messages. Some of the hashtagged messages do not have a direct subject like 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Some of the hashtagged linguistic items in the placards though did not exceed three or four words are punchy and direct. The use of the hashtag is an innovation deployed to incite social change.

Discussion The messages in the placards with the hashtag are effective as they draw attention to the messages. The overall meaning collectively points to the urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to put an end to the endless killings in the land. The different semiotic resources deployed in addition to the hash are to create awareness about the problems of incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State. First, the use of hashtags is powerful because it is participatory. Hashtags are not decided in advance by a pre- determined set of users. They are ad hoc tools deployed to fight a particular cause. In this sense, the activism was successful as it provided information on the happenings in Benue State that could not be found in mainstream media, and, in turn, generated media exposure. Because the placards and their carriers are posted online, some of them are remixed to vividly portray the meaning of the hashtagged messages. The posting online is to reach a wider audience about events and happenings in Benue State. Hashtag activism helped bridge geographic distances to raise a collective voice online. The demonstrators considered Fulani herdsmen intrusion a collective problem and attempted to address the problem in a collective manner. With regard to visual meaning, modality has been interpreted in terms of the believability or ‘truth’ of the feature portrayed (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006, p. 154). In the placards, the killer herdsmen are portrayed through the use of red font symbolised by bloodshed, the dark map of Benue State of plate 3, and the burning objects of plate 4. This realistic portrayal allows their easy recognition by viewers.

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Semiotically, the use of naturalistic images as in the first, fourth and sixth images realize a high degree modality, which is, believability. The way in which the main image addresses the viewer is a key feature of the placards (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006, p. 154). The way the placards are positioned that is, at eye level, allows the viewers to ‘undergo’ a visual acuity when they look at the placards. The placards in this sense ‘addresses’ the viewer. The symbolic meaning is carried further by the look of the placard’s carriers. This cues the viewers into reasoning with them that the extra-judicial killings in Benue State should be stopped without further delay. This way, the message and the metaphor of the placard are thus carried beyond the placard itself to the viewers. In this way, the metaphor becomes a ‘vehicle’ for understanding the message of the demonstrators (Lakoff and Johnson 2003, p. 160). Because the wailing women are placed lower than the dignitaries, they are literally ‘looked down on’ by the dignitaries. This suggests they are in a somewhat inferior position (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006, p. 140). In all, the authorities are implored to put an end to the senseless killing and other injustices in the land.

Conclusion In this paper, we studied a remarkable hashtag activism effort as a subtle way of registering social protest in Benue State in Nigeria. This action is particularly noteworthy because the placards carriers are grassroots people who have deployed emerging online technology to raise their voices offline and online. The hashtag has been used in order to maximize exposure and interaction with the public. This youths are using online social media to establish solidarity with the affected community and create awareness about the critical issue of extrajudicial killings in Benue State.

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