Between the Star Boy and the City Boy: Humour, Sarcasm and Rhetoric-Induced (De)Marketing in a Nigerian Presidential Primary Election

Beyond the political communication context, non-verbal communication cues are so potent that their interpretations may outweigh the intentionality of the interlocutors that produce the cues. This study analyses the communicative and rhetorical strategies in seven purposively selected political memes created by Nigerians before Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) held her presidential primary election ahead of the country’s 2023 Presidential Election. The study focused on how the memes marketed and de-marketed the candidacies of Nigeria’s Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (the star boy), and Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (the city boy). Driven by the set-up-incongruity resolution theory of humour, rhetorical framing and socio-semiotic model for visual analysis, the study identified two general themes and five sub-themes from the memes. In the first theme— collective framing of political actors—, Tinubu and Osinbajo were framed as combating competitors. For the second general theme— individuated framing of political gladiators—, sub-themes such as Osinbajo as a kind politician, Tinubu as a kingmaker, Tinubu as a thug and Osinbajo as a betrayer dominated. The study recommends that to establish a better democratic atmosphere in Nigeria, political stakeholders should emphasise accurate civic education on the Nigerian public space and stress pertinent campaign issues instead of irrelevancies.