Polarisation and the Sustenance of Biafra Secessionist Discourses Online

Abstract

This study examines polarisation in citizens’ online discourses about Biafra agitations in Nigeria. Using critical discourse analysis and the appraisal framework, it analyses 350 Biafra-related posts sampled from Nigerian digital communities. Analysis reveals that polarisation is discursively strengthened through labelling, ethnocentrism, generalisations, and historical allusions. This study concludes that the creation, consumption and unfettered distribution of such polarised discourses reflect Nigeria’s unitarist-federalism. It adds that the instigation of this socio-political fact about Nigeria can foster the cultivation/reinforcement of cognitive biases, harmful ideologies, and consequently, radicalisation/violence. It recommends that the minders of the Nigerian state should amicably address the Biafran agitations.