Integrity Journal of Arts and Humanities Volume 2(3), pages 62-69, October 2021 Article Number: D8A7399F4 ISSN: 2811-2407 https://doi.org/10.31248/IJAH2021.034 https://integrityresjournals.org/journal/IJAH Full Length Research A critical discourse analysis of selected news reports of South Africa xenophobic attacks of Nigerians OYEDEJI Gideon Abioye* and IDRIS Nabila Idoko General Studies Unit, Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. Email: oyegid@afit.edu.ng/dejigideon@gmail.com Copyright © 2021 Idris and Oyedeji. This article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received 10th September, 2021; Accepted 6th October, 2021 ABSTRACT: The incessant xenophobic attacks of Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa have generated a unique discourse in the Nigerian media and in fact, other mainstream media on the African continent and international scene. These attacks are viewed by the international community as incompatible with 21st century civility. This paper therefore, engages the reports of selected news media in Nigeria, South African and other media houses with a view to explicating the ideologies that underpin each report seeing through the insight of Van Dijk, Norman Fairclough and Ruth Wodak’s models of Critical Discourse Analysis. A total of 10 report on the 2015-2019 xenophobia were purposively selected from the online outlets of these media houses. The study therefore found that the use of language by the Nigerian media shows that the polarisation tilted towards emphasising the positive ‘in-group’ description of the heinous acts visited on innocent Nigerians in South Africa whereas the South African and other news media brought to perspective the negative ‘out-group’ description of “some” Nigerians who are engaged in illegal businesses in their South Africa. The lexical choices contribute in significant ways to show the ideologies each reporters represent. The study submits that, these attacks by South Africans on fellow African Nationals are nefarious, iniquitous, atrocious and roguish perhaps because of their colonial experience. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, ideologies, South Africa, xenophobic attacks. INTRODUCTION The term xenophobia refers to a dread of anything unusual or alien. It is also used to express hate of outsiders and foreigners. This expresses itself in a variety of ways, including the relationships and views of various groups of people. Clearly, xenophobia is based on a sense of insecurity when foreigners are perceived to be taking over one’s country (Ogunnowo and Joshua, 2019; Anyim et al., 2019). People care about an ethnic nationality's personal and collective secure identity; therefore, anything that violates this personal and collective view is odd and cannot survive the hatred stated on such entity. Xenophobia, as defined by Klande (2001) and referenced by UNESCO (2017, p. 3), is “an attitudinal orientation of hatred toward non-natives in a particular population”. Socio-cultural background and exposure often account for the development of a people's attitude, and once an attitude has been established, the foundation for shifting views is limited. As a result, xenophobic conduct is founded on pre- existing racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, or national prejudice. According to Mogokwu (2005, p. 6), xenophobia is represented in discriminating attitudes and conduct, and it often ends in violence, abuse, and the display of complete hatred for foreigners. Harris (2001) backs up this point of view by claiming that xenophobia is caused by a sense of superiority and a lack of intercultural knowledge. South Africa's xenophobic assaults against other Africans are based on a deep fear of foreign domination, stereotypes and attitudes. According to Premium Times (2017, p. 2) cited in Oyedeji (2020), since 1994, there have been waves of xenophobic violence directed against Nigerians and other African citizens. The 2008 disaster killed 62 people in Johannesburg townships, majority of them Nigerians. Another assault was carried out on African immigrants in April 2015. This was exacerbated by a