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This study explores ideological representations in the online images of the Oduduwa secessionist movement in Nigeria from a multimodal critical discourse analytical framework. The data, which comprise selected internet images obtained from the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the group, were qualitatively analyzed. The findings reveal that the images are ideologically designed to resist the Nigerian nation, call for the Yoruba nation, signal membership polarization, construct an Oduduwa national identity, construct the betrayal of the Yoruba nation, accentuate violence in Nigeria, and delegitimize the Nigerian nation. We argue that these discursive strategies are used to project resistance as well as radical and secessionist ideologies, which appear to be typical of secessionist organizations around the world. Additionally, this article sheds light on the paramount significance of ethnic identity in the organizational dynamics of resistance groups operating within the Nigerian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the discursive strategies employed by Oduduwa secessionists to construct polarization and otherness on Twitter. Using the socio-cognitive approach to CDA combined with social media CDA, the study illustrates how socio-cultural and spatiotemporal contexts are embedded in digital performances of resistance. Findings show that the secessionists employ four main discursive strategies, namely: (1) vitriolic socio-cognitive labels and coinages; (2) generalization and ethnocentrism; (3) language of threat; and (4) use of Yoruba language to legitimize their resistance, accentuate their ideological stances, construct polarization and otherness, and do social mobilization. These strategies are achieved via discursive, linguistic, and stylo-orthographic resources made available by digital technology. The paper concludes that the discursive strategies employed by the secessionists do not directly reflect polarization but are simply constitutive of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oduduwa secessionist group is a good reminder that Nigeria's nationhood is still highly contested. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little or no linguistic research on the discourses produced by this emerging group of activists. This study examines Oduduwa agitators' Facebook activism as a form of political communication in order to identify their prevalent ideology and techniques for constructing their group's identity and activities. Facebook data are studied by applying Critical Discourse Analysis, more specifically van Dijk's ideological framework, to investigate the rhetorical and discourse structures of the campaign narratives. Findings indicate that, since the Oduduwa agitators are a group of individuals determined to secede from Nigeria, the structures of their campaign discourse contain crucial metaphorical expressions that construct the group's identity. Among those expressions, we find prejudicial generalisations, emphasis on victimisation of 'Us', the use of number games to stress victimhood and ideological polarisation of individuals and groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]