Hate Speech and Violence: Investigating the Perlocutionary Thrusts of Selected Utterances on Ruga Settlement Initiative in Nigeria

Abstract:

The paper investigates the perlocutionary thrusts of utterances made by some Nigerians on the planned establishment of Ruga settlements across the country by the federal government with the aim of establishing whether the utterances constitute hate speech capable of inciting violence within the country. As a study in pragmatics, the Speech Act theory (SAT) by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969) serve as our theoretical anchorage. The data analysed were comments of Nigerians reported in selected online news publications. They were purposively selected between January 2018 and August 2019. The findings reveal a preponderant use of assertives, verdictives, commissives, expressives and directives. The utterances were full of inflammatory rhetoric and verbal attacks, serving as weapons of threat, intimidation and blackmail. These characterise them as hate speech, capable of inciting hatred, fear and violence within the polity; and as such, constitute threats to Nigeria’s peaceful co-existence, national cohesion and development.