TY - JOUR

T1 - Insecurity and Safety Complications in Nigeria

T2 - A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Study of Human Security Threat in Nigerian Newspaper Reports

AU - Osisanwo, Ayo

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Security challenges, as continuously reported by different media outlets, have been on the upward scale in Nigeria today. This paper examines English-medium news reports published by selected Nigerian newspapers from 2020 to 2022, to uncover how they represent (in)security challenges within the Nigerian state. Adopting a corpus-based approach to critical discourse analysis, this paper deploys the Sketch Engine and Wmatrix corpus tools, focusing on the keyword slant and semantic domains to unearth thematic focus, while Reisigl and Wodak (in: Wodak and Michael (eds) Methods of critical discourse analysis, Sage, London, 2009) discourse approach to critical discourse analysis is deployed to identify a series of discourses through which (in)security and related issues are represented. Data revealed that the news reports are characterised by different constructions on security challenges in Nigeria. The discussion of security threats is consistent in Nigerian newspapers using different discourse strategies, especially nomination and predication to evaluate insecurity negatively. The negative othering of insecurity and the failure of the state to eradicate insecurity in Nigeria accentuates the general perception of insecurity within the Nigerian space using communication in Nigerian newspapers as a case in point. The complication of safety in Nigeria is a function of political unwillingness.

AB - Security challenges, as continuously reported by different media outlets, have been on the upward scale in Nigeria today. This paper examines English-medium news reports published by selected Nigerian newspapers from 2020 to 2022, to uncover how they represent (in)security challenges within the Nigerian state. Adopting a corpus-based approach to critical discourse analysis, this paper deploys the Sketch Engine and Wmatrix corpus tools, focusing on the keyword slant and semantic domains to unearth thematic focus, while Reisigl and Wodak (in: Wodak and Michael (eds) Methods of critical discourse analysis, Sage, London, 2009) discourse approach to critical discourse analysis is deployed to identify a series of discourses through which (in)security and related issues are represented. Data revealed that the news reports are characterised by different constructions on security challenges in Nigeria. The discussion of security threats is consistent in Nigerian newspapers using different discourse strategies, especially nomination and predication to evaluate insecurity negatively. The negative othering of insecurity and the failure of the state to eradicate insecurity in Nigeria accentuates the general perception of insecurity within the Nigerian space using communication in Nigerian newspapers as a case in point. The complication of safety in Nigeria is a function of political unwillingness.

KW - Corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis

KW - Human security threat

KW - Insecurity in Nigeria

KW - Nigerian newspaper

KW - State failure

KW - Literature studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85218882061&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s41701-025-00184-7

DO - 10.1007/s41701-025-00184-7

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85218882061

VL - 9

SP - 167

EP - 198

JO - Corpus Pragmatics

JF - Corpus Pragmatics

SN - 2509-9507

IS - 2

ER -