Resistance in Alternative Dispute Resolution ADR in Brekete Family Radio, Abuja, Nigeria

Resistance is reconstituted not as a heroic, external overthrow of power but as an intrinsic and diverse tactical response within the web of power. Scholarly investigations from the pragmatic and discourse ambits have probed how investigating police officers (IPOs) enact and sustain power in PSIs. However, the construction of power in Alternative Dispute Resolution ADR has not enjoyed sufficient scholarly investigation. This study investigates how respondents deploy discursive devices to resist ADR Moderator’s powers, describing the implication of such resistance for the language of interrogation in Nigeria. This study is backed by Foucault’s relational framework on power relations. Thirty interrogation sessions were downloaded on the official YouTube channel of Brekete Family Radio. These interrogation sessions consist of alleged death threat, illegal occupancy, irresponsible parenting, fraud, alleged theft, and illegal placement of shop were selected for analysis. The selected data were analysed and it revealed that respondents usually resist mediator’s powers by deploying discursive control to reframe allegation and appeal to fairness to appeal to emotions and social norms, to avoid incrimination. The study recommends further respondents-mediator related studies to further establish the place of the respondents in ADR studies.