Thematic Construction in the Nigerian Political Cartoons: Newspaper Examples

This article explores the way insurgency and banditry are represented in Nigerian political cartoons. Using content analysis, the article examines how these security threats are constructed as themes in the cartoons. It analyses the key visual metaphors and symbols used to convey these themes, as well as the political messages they convey. A purposive sampling was employed, whereby ten cartoons depictions were selected and analysed using semiotic analysis as the theoretical framework to explore the emergent themes of the depictions.The findings identified five emergent themes, such as, banditry, insecurity and poor policies among others. The findings suggest that political cartoons play a significant role in raising awareness and shaping public discourse on insurgency and banditry in Nigeria.