Discrimination and Social Identity: interrogating the impact of local lingua francas on inclusion politics in public institutions in Nigeria
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Date
2024-02
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Cambridge University Press
Abstract
This study is concerned with addressing discrimination in public spaces and interrogates the
extent to which the social identity function of a local lingua franca impacted inclusion
politics in leadership selections for public institutions in Africa. Guided by social identity and
ethnolinguistic identity theories, selecting Ahmadu Bello University in Northern Nigeria as a
case study, and using the qualitative research technique, this study found a three-level
ethno-religious discriminatory categorization – Core Northerners, Peripheral Northerners
and Non-Northerners – accommodated within the institution’s power hierarchy. Fluency in
Hausa, the local lingua franca in Northern Nigeria, was the common factor. Although the
language was not a requirement for appointment, it turned out to be the marker of social
identity that positively impacted inclusion politics. With extensive linguistic acculturation,
African nation states are better off investing in the propagation of the local lingua franca to
address negative discrimination in public spaces.
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Ayodeji Ladipo Alabi. (2024). Discrimination and social identity: interrogating the impact of local lingua francas on inclusion politics in public institutions in Nigeria. Africa (2024), 94, 141–161 doi:10.1017/S0001972024000068