Professor Chris Uchenna Agbedo, a leading scholar in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, used the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)’s 255th inaugural lecture to argue that most of Nigeria’s governance challenges arise from a crisis of meaning and the systematic manipulation of language.
He delivered the lecture, titled “WordMatters: Sociolinguistic Calculus as Praxis for Interrogating Linguistic Banditry and Banditisation of Nigeria,” at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium and Theatre, UNN, before a sizable audience that included university officials, academic and non‑teaching staff, students, government representatives, traditional rulers and other notable personalities.
Key points from the lecture
- Agbedo identified language manipulation as a core driver of poor governance, calling for greater linguistic honesty, accountability and civic awareness.
- He explained that language does more than describe reality; it shapes public perception, allocates power and influences how citizens interpret governance and public affairs.
- The professor unveiled a new analytical tool called Sociolinguistic Calculus (SLC), designed to trace how meanings shift across contexts, how language serves vested interests, and how repeated patterns of distortion become normalised.
- He distinguished “linguistic banditry” – the intentional distortion or appropriation of meaning for personal gain – from “banditisation,” the process by which such practices become widespread and institutionalised.
- Using examples from political discourse, Agbedo showed how officials can use language to shift blame, hide failures and legitimize questionable actions.
In addition to SLC, Agbedo presented three supplementary frameworks – the Sociolinguistic Liberation Thesis, Universal Appropriation Grammar (UAG) and Governance Optimality Theory (GOT) – to explore the interplay between language, power, institutional choices and accountability. He warned that governance outcomes remain defective when competing interests are managed to favour narrow political agendas rather than the common good.
Proposed solutions
Agbedo suggested a remedial version of his model, Remedial Sociolinguistic Calculus (RSLC), to restore clarity of meaning, reclaim linguistic agency and challenge the manipulation of public discourse. He also announced the development of the Krisagbedo Linguistic Engine (KLiEN), a multilingual platform powered by artificial intelligence that can detect, analyse and clarify linguistic manipulation without imposing censorship or supplanting individual judgment.
The professor introduced “Visual Pragmatics” as an emerging field for studying how images, cartoons, memes and other visual media convey meaning, ideology and power. He cautioned that the corruption of meaning often precedes institutional decay, noting that constitutions can exist without constitutionalism, elections without democracy, and courts without justice when the language defining these institutions is distorted.
Earlier in the ceremony, UNN Vice‑Chancellor Prof. Simon Ortuanya, represented by Deputy Vice‑Chancellor (Academic) Prof. Kamoru Usman, highlighted the inaugural lecture’s role as a long‑standing academic tradition that offers scholars a platform to showcase research, share knowledge and stimulate intellectual debate on matters of societal importance.