Abstract
This study investigates the political character of humorous post-proverbials found in the lexicon of Hausa speech communities in Northern Nigeria. The Hausa are counted among the three most prominent ethnic groups in Nigeria, occupying parts of the Middle Belt and the northern parts of the country. Like other ethnic groups, the Hausa people have a rich culture and unique traditions; hence, they have these neo-proverbs drawn from the rich experiences of their daily lives. Postproverbials in this paper are described as neo-proverbials of the post-colonial era that have elements of contemporaneity and flexibility. They also contain idiomatic and some aspects of narrative qualities. This study undertook a semantic appraisal of the themes embedded in the chosen postproverbials. Twenty-three proverbs were painstakingly selected via interviews and critically analyzed according to their contents. The study adopted Halliday’s(2004) metafunctions theory and Adegbija’s (1987) layers of meaning as its theoretical and analytical framework. The postproverbials examined in this article are politically driven and appear on the surface to have been created for humoristic purposes. However, the study establishes that aside from serving as tools for entertainment, these neo-proverbs are also used to subtly sensitize the people on what is going on in their political contexts.
Keywords: Humorous, Postproverbials, Neo-proverbials Hausa, Northern Nigeria.
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