Citation

Mele ML, Bello BM. Discourse Soc. 2007; 18: 437-452.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

In Nigeria, the government is trying hard to establish a liberated and developed democratic state through the elimination of corruption and injustice. Nigeria's citizens are aware of this and try to see the realization of this aim despite the hardships that prompt such injustices in the first place. This study focuses on one instance of illegitimate practice: exchanges between drivers on the highways of north-eastern Nigeria and the security personnel manning highway checkpoints. The authors provide a critical discourse analysis of these encounters, recorded via unobtrusive observation. Their analysis reveals that illegitimate dealings are perpetrated in seemingly innocent conversational exchanges, wherein illegal acts are discursively shielded. In addition, security personnel exhibit their power in the language they use and by that means underhandedly extort money from drivers.