Nigerian professor calls for reform of public language
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day Nigeria
Chris Uchenna Agbedo, a professor of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics at the University of Nigeria, is calling for stronger linguistic honesty, responsibility and civic awareness. His intervention, delivered during the university's 255th inaugural lecture, examines the role of language in power relations and Nigerian public life, according to Business Day Nigeria.
Chris Uchenna Agbedo, a professor of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka (UNN), called on Thursday 5 November for stronger linguistic honesty, responsibility and civic awareness in Nigerian public life. He said Nigeria's difficulties were also linked to a crisis of meaning, during his 255th inaugural lecture at UNN, according to Business Day Nigeria.
The lecture, entitled « WordMatters: Sociolinguistic Calculus as Praxis for Interrogating Linguistic Banditry and Banditisation of Nigeria », examined how language constructs social reality, influences public understanding and can be used to conceal wrongdoing, according to Business Day Nigeria. Agbedo presented « Sociolinguistic Calculus » as a framework for analysing and correcting the manipulation of meaning in Nigerian public life.
The reflection draws in particular on three metaphors, Ovu, Oyibo Ịgadagbekwụ and Eji Ogbene. The first refers to an Igbo proverb urging people to begin a conversation at its foundation and examine the foundations, motivations and consequences of the expressions used, while the other two concern the transmission of education between generations and the intellectual courage needed to question power, according to Business Day Nigeria.
