A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF VERBAL ABUSE BETWEEN GOVERNOR NYESOM WIKE AND SENATOR DINO MELAYE

Abstract

The deliberate use of foul language by political actors in the Nigerian social space is alarming. Often times, their choice of words that make headlines in the different social media handles especially, during election periods is devoid of courtesy. This pragmatic study on Wike and Melaye's outburst on Channels Television and African Independent Televison (AIT) on the 11th of April, 2023 adopts an eclectic approach using Leech (1983) and Goffman (1967) Face-Attack theory and  sets out to assert the politeness maxims exploited or violated by Wike and Dino and also identify the face-attack strategies employed by the interlocutors to attack each others positive or negative face. This essay adopts a descriptive approach to analyze twenty excerpts from both Wike and Melaye's utterances. Findings from the study, expose violation of  approbation. agreement, modesty, sympathy, generosity and pollyana principles. Worthy of note also, is the excessive attack on each others quality face, social identity face, equity rights and association rights. The paper, therefore, recommends that political parties, as frontliners in the nations democratic process should caution, and educate their  loyalists on the need for polite practices so that the country would not be presented in a bad light to the international communities. Teachers of English language and literature should incorporate in their curriculum literary texts that would teach  students at all levels verbal hygiene and the need to maintain each others positive face during discussions, also, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should accomodate in the electoral act laws that prohibit the use of abusive languages by aspirants and politicians followed by sanctions or disqualification of offenders.