The Influence of Yoruba Religious Discourse on Political Language in South West Nigeria

The intersection of religious and political discourse in Yoruba public life produces a distinctive rhetorical tradition in which theological vocabulary, prophetic narrative, and ancestral authority are deployed in political argumentation. This study examines the influence of Yoruba religious discourse, encompassing traditional Yoruba religion, Christianity, and Islam, on political language in South West Nigeria. Using a critical discourse analysis methodology, data were collected from political speeches, campaign media, and public commentary by political actors in Oyo, Osun, and Lagos States recorded between 2020 and 2023. The corpus was supplemented by interviews with political communication experts and religious leaders. The study applies discourse historical analysis and the analytical framework of religious rhetoric in political discourse. Existing literature on religion and politics in Nigeria has focused primarily on sociological and political science perspectives, with the linguistic and rhetorical dimensions of religious influence on Yoruba political language being insufficiently analysed. This study fills that discursive analytical gap. The research investigates which religious registers and narrative types are most frequently deployed in Yoruba political discourse, how traditional Yoruba religious symbolism, Christian providential narrative, and Islamic divine will language coexist in the rhetoric of the same political actors, and whether religious language use correlates with electoral effectiveness. Findings are expected to reveal a syncretic political religious rhetoric that draws pragmatically across multiple religious traditions to maximise audience reach. Recommendations will address media literacy education regarding the rhetorical use of religious language in Yoruba political contexts. Keywords: religious discourse, political language, Yoruba, critical discourse analysis, South West Nigeria.