A discourse study of selected newspaper headlines on insurgency in Nigeria

Insurgent activities are so prevalent in Nigeria such that the security apparatus finds it very it very difficult if not almost impossible to curb their excesses. On a daily basis, newspapers are flooded with the wanton destruction of the activities of these elements in the Nigerian society. The headlines of those media reports are therefore selected for analysis in this study. In this study, we draw samples of data, present and group them into number texts and then give them a detailed analysis through the application of linguistic tools. We focus the analysis on identifying the linguistic and discourse patterns in the data by using conceptualization and representation as Critical Discourse Analytical and Metaphorical concepts to critically examine the issue

in relation to insurgency. Ideological projections are also taken into consideration from both the media practitioners’ perspective and the militants’ point of view. For easy identification the data were arranged in terms of their thematic realizations and grouped into two broad categories: according to the issue raised and according to the surface

as well as underlying meaning realizable in the message. The analysis was presented in relation to Boko Haram and the Niger Delta insurgency in Nigeria. In spite of their differences in terms of ideology and modus operandi the analysis was done to add to the body of literature on the issue.