Conflict and warfare metaphors in the Nigerian media conceptualization of corruption

Abstract

ABSTRACT The incidence of corruption in Nigeria is monumental, widespread, pervasive and endemic. Studies on corruption in Nigeria have been approached from diverse perspectives including insights from social sciences and humanities. This study is based on the tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). The CMT approach expresses the role of language, culture and cognition in the communication of human experiences. The underlying motivation for conceptualizing corruption as warfare is because it is pervasive, dangerous and destructive and can stifle national development. The Nigerian media have been at the forefront of reporting cases of public sector corruption and in doing so have deployed different metaphorical frames in conceptualizing the phenomenon. This study chiefly investigates the dominant use of conflict and war metaphors in the conceptualization and communication of corruption and anti-corruption discourses in the Nigerian media. Thus, this study uses insights from CMT to unearth and analyze some of the metaphorical schemes and categories that have been used by six Nigerian newspapers, namely; The Guardian, The Punch, Daily Trust, The Nation, Vanguard and Sun to represent corruption and anti-corruption rhetoric.