

Journal of Language and Literature 

ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online)  Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun Oloyede 

108 

The Utilitarian Functions and the Nature 
of Vehicle Inscriptions and Stickers  
in Southwestern Nigeria. 

Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun Oloyede 
roikotun53@gmail.com 
O ̩̀s un State College of Technology, E ̩̀sà-Òkè, Nigeria,  
Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria,  
O ̩̀s un State College of Technology, E ̩̀sà-Òkè, Nigeria 

Abstract 

This paper x-rays the utilitarian functions and the nature of vehicle inscriptions and stickers in south-
western Nigeria. It traces the history of the use of vehicle writings in Nigeria in general and the southwest 
in particular chronicling their long history of usage, and noting that it is a common phenomenon 
nowadays to come across vehicles, most especially commercial ones, heavily bedecked with an array of 
colourful inscriptions and stickers of different sizes and in different languages and that the posting of the 
moving emblems on vehicles has become so prevalent and so widespread that there is hardly an 
automobile on the highways in South-western Nigeria that does not transport them. Our study also reveals 
that vehicle insignia are meant to serve different purposes some of which include construction of religious 
messages, moral/philosophical messages, group/individual identity messages, warning and cautionary 
messages, humours, wits, ribaldry, advertising, politics and public enlightenment messages among several 
others. Our study further reveals that inscriptions and stickers serve as formidable communicative tools 
used to transmit diverse messages to the decoders. 

Keywords: vehicle inscriptions, vehicle stickers, language, nation, heterogeneous society 

Introduction 

Nigeria is undoubtedly a multi-lingual, 
multi-cultural and multi-religious nation. 
According to Gumperz (1972, p. 230), a multi-
lingual society exists: 

where populations of widely different 
cultural and linguistic backgrounds live in 
close geographical  proximity, subject to 
the same political authority , attend the 
same schools, exchange services and 
cooperate in many other joint activities by 
means of not one, but a variety of 
languages. 

The heterogeneous nature of Nigeria is a 
consequence of its historical antecedent of 
contact which dates back to 1553 or 

thereabouts when the Portuguese merchants 
arrived at the West African coasts for 
commercial and evangelizing activities (see 
Ajayi, 1965, Adeniran, 1978, Adetugbo, 1979 
and Awonusi, 2004). When the British later 
introduced education into the country, some 
Nigerians were trained as interpreters and 
began to use English as a medium of 
interaction. Thus, the years of interaction 
between Niger area (later known as Nigeria) 
and Europe, first in trading activities and later 
in the propagation of religious activities, 
brought the English culture and language 
closer to Nigerians. 

At the dawn of independence in 1960, 
Hausa, Igbo and Yorùbá languages were 
officially recognized as the three major 
languages for use. The introduction of the 


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Vol. 19 No. 2 – October 2019                                                                                                                   ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 

 
109 

 
trilingual policy was, indeed, a watershed in 
the nation’s educational policy as official 
recognition was given to the three languages. 
So, in 1977, through the instrumentality of the 
National Policy on Education, Hausa, Igbo and 
Yorùbá became school subjects across the 
nation’s educational levels. The linguistic 
situation in the country today presents a 
multiplicity of languages. Research studies put 
the estimates of indigenous languages 
between 200 and 500 (see Bamgbose, 1971). 
The multiplicity of the ethnic languages 
notwithstanding, only three languages are 
accorded official status by the Federal 
Government through the instrumentality of 
the 1977 National Policy on Education (later 
revised in 1998 and 1999). They are Hausa, 
Igbo and Yorùbá. The three indigenous 
languages acquire the status of official 
languages in that they possess integrative 
force. They were the first to be reduced to 
writing in the mid-19th century with 
substantial literatures and they have a 
considerable national and international 
coverage of users (see Babajide, 2001, pp. 2-
13). 
 

Furthermore, as contact between the 
European merchants and the natives on 
Nigeria’s coastal areas such as Lagos and the 
Niger Delta became more noticeable, the need 
to evolve a common language that would 
enhance mutual intelligibility between the 
natives and the colonialists became necessary. 
As the white men could not communicate 
effectively with their host natives in English, 
the adoption of the Nigerian Pidgin as a trade 
language as well as a channel to meet the 
communication needs of the people of diverse 
ethno-linguistic origins emerged. The need to 
adopt Nigerian Pidgin as a viable linguistic 
code then was, first, to broaden contact 
between the white men and the natives and, 
second, to neutralize the linguistic 
heterogeneity of the Niger Delta (see 
Egbokhare, 2001, p. 108). Today, due to its role 
as a popular linguistic form of communication 
among the multi-ethnic regions of the country, 
the Nigerian Pidgin is no longer associated 
with a low or inferior social status as was the 
case during the slave trade period. The code 
has now assumed a wide communicative role 
as a lingua franca. The code is widely used in 
the media; it is used for commercial activities 

as well as a medium in the literary circle. 
 

Similarly, another speech form known as 
the Arabic language is also in use in Nigeria. It 
is the sixth after English, Hausa, Igbo, Yorùbá 
and pidgin that can be discussed under the 
multi-lingual nature of the country. Therefore, 
the plurality of the nation’s linguistic picture is 
accentuated by the existence of such 
exoglossic languages as Arabic, English and 
Pidgin English alongside the three indigenous 
languages of Hausa, Igbo and Yorùbá. Arabic 
language, according to Adegbija (1994, p. 15), 
is ‘the vehicle of Islam’ because it is the 
language of Muslim religion even though it is 
not all the adherents of the religion that 
understand the language. In this paper, we 
show that vehicle inscriptions and stickers 
express and exemplify the multi-lingual, multi-
cultural and multi-religious nature of Nigeria. 
 

Some Previous Studies 
 
 A few research studies have been 
published on vehicle writings and their 
communicative functions (see Jordan, 1978, 
Ajani, 1999, Chiluwa, 2008, Nwagbara, 2008, 
van der Geest, 2009, Mgbemena, 2013 and 
Oduro-Frimpong, 2013). These scholars, 
however, hold divergent views on such socio-
cultural factors like age, sex, status, ethnicity 
and religion that actually influence the use of 
inscriptions and stickers on vehicles. For 
instance, while some attribute vehicle 
inscriptions to the users’ behavioural traits, 
claiming that the writings on vehicles are 
symbolic of, and analogous to, the 
idiosyncrasies of the users (see Jordan, 1978 
and van der Geest, 2009), others argue that the 
inscriptions are responses to the users’ 
experiences of life, their fears, anxieties and 
other challenges of life and the need to seek 
God for possible solutions (see Chiluwa, 2008 
and Nwagbara, 2010). In his study of vehicle 
writings in five west African countries of 
Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo and 
Nigeria, Jordan (1978), for instance, examines 
what he calls ‘role separation behaviours’ of 
commercial drivers (when driving and when 
not on job) as depicted in the vehicle 
inscriptions. He argues, in his study, that the 
writings on the vehicles are true reflections of 
the behavioural attitudes of the drivers (see 
also Ajani, 1999). Jordan’s (1978) submission 


Journal of Language and Literature 

ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online)                                                                               Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun 

Oloyede 

 
110 

 
may not be completely valid, though it may be 
true that some vehicle users depict their 
character traits through the use of inscriptions 
on their vehicles as we can find in some 
instances.  
 

On the other hand, it may sound 
reasonable to say that sometimes, some 
vehicle operators who, possibly, are not the 
real owners of the vehicles they operate may 
tend to exhibit a complete antithesis of the 
behavioural traits of the vehicle owners. For, a 
vehicle owner may decide to have sùúrù 
(patience) inscribed on the body of his vehicle 
as an alias because of his characteristically 
patient disposition, but may employ a rash and 
impatient driver operating his vehicle. Hence, 
a commercial vehicle which has the inscription 
sùúrù (patience) on its body may, surprisingly, 
be found to be operated by a driver who is 
anything but patient. In other words, the fact 
that a commercial vehicle has the inscription 
sùúrù (patience) on its body, does not strictly 
imply that the vehicle operator will maintain a 
patient disposition; otherwise, frequent 
carnages on Nigerian roads, which are majorly 
caused by sheer impatience on the part of most 
vehicle operators, would have been a rare 
occurrence. So Jordan’s (1978) strict 
attribution of the drivers’ behaviour to the 
inscriptions on their vehicles as if to say that 
the vehicle inscriptions bear the true 
reflections of the drivers’ behaviour constitute 
one of the weaknesses inherent in the study. 
Our assumption is that the user may have 
either borrowed it for use or may be a driver 
operating it for commercial purpose. 
 

Chiluwa’s (2008) study is another 
research endeavour that studies the religious 
value of vehicle inscriptions. His study 
primarily discusses vehicle stickers as a 
medium for communicating religious beliefs. 
The study takes a critical look at vehicle 
stickers as they are used to construct 
individual and group identities, people’s 
religious faith and social vision in the context 
of religious assumptions and practices in 
Nigeria. While discussing the discourse 
context of religious stickers on selected 
commercial vehicles in Nigeria, Chiluwa 
(2008) observes that religious vehicle stickers 
are used to express social vision, individual 

group identity as well as a means of re-
affirming faith by religious adherents. In the 
study, he argues that individuals using the 
stickers that construct social vision do 
experience in real life some hard times, but are 
made to believe that operating in the tradition 
of the popular positive confession would 
change their social condition for the better. In 
the study, too, he remarks that religious 
stickers are used as a ‘quest for self-identity’ as 
adherent of certain religious groups in Nigeria 
procure car stickers for the purpose of 
identification. By sticking the insignia on their 
vehicles, individual church members are able 
to identify one another and, consequently, are 
likely to offer assistance to any of the members 
in need of help. However, his assertion that 
‘members who do not use stickers because 
they do not own cars are insulated from 
assistance as they are often neglected or 
mistakenly ill-treated by their fellow brothers 
and sisters’ may not be a completely valid 
statement in that stickers have become so 
ubiquitous and widespread nowadays that 
they are not restricted to vehicles alone. In 
addition, therefore, whether they are used on 
vehicles or not does not necessarily insulate 
the users from possible assistance from their 
fellow brethren. This implies that any member 
of a religious faith who does not own a car to 
use the sticker on can, as well, decide to fix the 
insignia on their bags, Bible or Quran as the 
case may be while the same purpose of 
group/individual identification can still be 
maintained or achieved. While we may agree 
with Chiluwa’s (2008) argument that stickers 
communicate group/individual identification 
of the users, we also want to argue in this study 
that vehicle inscriptions or stickers provide a 
rich platform for other domains of discourse 
than group/individual identity as claimed by 
Chiluwa (2008). As a matter of fact, there are 
quite a lot of other domains in which vehicle 
writings can serve communicative purpose. 
Some of these domains are shown in our 
findings. 
  

Writing on vehicle inscriptions as a 
medium of communication, Nwagbara (2008), 
like Chiluwa (2008), notes that vehicle insignia 
arguably represents the single most important 
factor for ideological change. He argues that 
the impact of vehicle inscriptions extends 


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111 

 
across the totality of human existence; from 
cultural transformation to political and 
ideological change. While we agree with 
Nwagbara (2008) that vehicle inscriptions 
construct political and ideological ideas, we 
want to add too that the utilitarian dimension 
of vehicle inscriptions and writings has never 
been in doubt. For instance, they have proved 
to be an excellent advertising tool as more and 
more companies have realised the potential of 
this tool and have begun to use it on the 
vehicles to promote their businesses. We also 
show in this present study that vehicle 
inscriptions play important roles in lot of ways 
other than for political or ideological reasons 
as they are also employed to enlighten, rebuke, 
educate and promote different aspects of the 
socio-cultural values of the society as well as 
promotion of favourite club sides and 
advertisements of products, goods and 
services. Similarly, spiritual and philosophical 
beliefs are also constructed through vehicle 
inscriptions and stickers. In addition, vehicle 
writings have, in recent times, become a 
unique way of expressing core values in 
organizations. The corporate image of an 
organization is inextricably linked to its 
mission statement. In other words, the success 
of an organization is often tied to how well it 
does in achieving its mission statement, and 
the role of vehicle inscriptions in this regard is 
exemplified by a study on the expression of 
core values through bumper stickers at Goshen 
College, Northern Indiana (see Evans, Pletcher 
and Stolzfus, 2012). 

 
The Utilitarian Functions and the 
Nature of Vehicle Writings 
 

In this section, we present the utilitarian 
functions and uses of vehicle inscriptions and 
stickers in Nigeria. First, we take a general look 
at the functions of vehicle inscriptions in 
Nigeria, which is then followed by instances in 
the use of vehicle stickers and finally those 
areas in which the use of inscriptions 
intersects those of stickers. This section will 
equally take a global look at the utilitarian 
functions of the inscription and sticker 
emblems so as to validate our claim that the 
use of this mobile insignia transcends the 
Nigerian shores. The history of the use of 
vehicle inscriptions in the country will serve as 
the starting point for our discussion. The 

purpose is meant to confirm that the utilitarian 
functions of vehicle writings in Southwest in 
particular and Nigeria in general has had a 
fairly long history. Inscriptions refer to words 
written in the front of a book or in any part of 
other objects like vehicles and buildings. They 
are artistic writings on paints. We can also say 
that vehicle inscriptions refer to ‘written texts, 
drawings, images, messages, paintings and 
photographs, among others which are 
inscribed on the panel of vehicles’. They are 
written texts because they constitute a form of 
discourse the purpose of which is to form a 
unified whole as well as communicate a certain 
message (see Halliday and Hassan, 1976, Bloor 
and Bloor, 2004). For instance, Bloor and Bloor 
(2004, p. 5) define a text as ‘any stretch of 
language, regardless of length, that is spoken 
or written for the purpose of communication 
by real people in actual circumstances’. 
 
 Similarly, since the inception of 
automobiles in Nigeria, vehicle users have 
been using inscriptions in the form of artistic 
paints on their vehicles. Graphic artists, 
popularly called sign-writers, who were skilled 
in motor painting and graphic art, were usually 
employed in those days by vehicle owners to 
paint their newly bought vehicles such as 
Bedford, Austin and Mercedes Benz 911, to 
mention but a few and inscribe captions of 
their choices on the bodies of their vehicles, 
partly for aesthetic purpose and partly for 
communicative purpose. In the early years of 
vehicle use in Nigeria, inscriptions on vehicles 
were more of aesthetic than communicative 
purpose. This is because the few vehicle 
owners then would go at any length to ensure 
that their vehicles looked beautiful, colourful 
and mesmerizing. Not that alone, having richly 
adorned the windscreens, bodies and the 
inside of their vehicles with different 
inscriptions, they would also install their 
vehicles with a pair of big horns that looked 
like a bugle from which a loud supersonic hoot 
would sound. Funny enough, passers-by that 
heard the hooting hunk would think it was 
coming from a locomotive because of the loud 
and intimidating sound that would come from 
such automobiles. On the other hand, some 
pedestrians that heard the hooting honk might, 
in sheer admiration and excitement, interpret 
the sound to have meant, Mo s̩è̩̩s̩è̩̩ bè̩r̩è̩̩ ayé jíje̩ 
ni (meaning ‘I have just started enjoying my 


Journal of Language and Literature 

ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online)                                                                               Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun 

Oloyede 

 
112 

 
life’). The practice was a means of 
demonstrating users’ or owners’ social 
pedigree in the comity of vehicle owners. This 
practice is still in vogue till date as many 
vehicle operators, having adorned their 
automobiles with different inscriptions in 
varying colours, will also go an extra mile by 
installing large horns on their vehicles to make 
such a loud noise that anyone from a far 
distance can distinctly hear it. The colourfully 
written inscription texts on vehicles as well as 
the supersonic horns that were meticulously 
hung on driver’s side are meant to complement 
the aesthetic quality of such vehicles. Vehicle 
owners and the general public have now 
realised that vehicle insignia offer an excellent 
potential for communication in social 
situations apart from the aesthetic functions 
they had earlier associated the writings with. 
 
 Furthermore, as a communicative artefact, 
inscriptions are of two types: the paint and the 
metal or gold inscriptions. The former is the 
type in which oil paint is used to inscribe 
messages on the body of an automobile. It is a 
work of art undertaken by sign-writers to 
capture the realities of human experiences. It 
is usually in form of graphic and visual artistic 
patterns. Vehicle inscriptions are eloquent 
semiotic means of encoding certain ideas and 
concepts to the readers. For instance, quite 
apart from the type that is artistically 
embossed on vehicles which convey a wide 
range of messages, there are still others that 
are used to display code numbers on each side 
of a vehicle such as intra-city cabs and mini-
buses popularly referred to as kórópe, dáńfó 
and móòlùè̩̩ as well as government utility 
vehicles for safety, identification and 
demographic purposes. The number code is 
issued by every government agency saddled 
with such a responsibility, and the code is 
thereafter taken to a sign-writer’s studio who 
will emboss the number on such a vehicle for 
various purposes one of which is to determine 
the demographic trends of intra-city 
commercial vehicles and government utility 
vehicles in each state. 
 
 Another category of vehicle inscription is 
the gold or metal inscription. It is in two forms. 
The first is used on vehicles to delineate 
vehicle brands. The labelling of the metal or 

gold emblem on vehicles usually represents 
the trade mark of the manufacturers of such 
automobiles. The labelling is meant to afford 
prospective buyers of any of the vehicles on 
display the opportunity to select from the 
variety of brands available to them. It is no 
gainsaying that some vehicle users do make a 
strong preference for a particular brand of 
vehicles against the others just in the same 
way as vehicle owners express preference for 
vehicle numbers belonging to certain states in 
the Federation. Such metal inscriptions are 
those that classify vehicles as either Toyota, 
Datsun, Honda, Primeria, Almera, Peugeot, 
Audi, Volkswagon, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Mazda 
or Jeep (Sport Utility Vehicle SUV), each 
indicating the manufacturing company from 
which the automobiles were produced. The 
second type is a rather novel idea. It is referred 
to as state logo identification insignia. The type 
is embossed below the number plate of every 
automobile to indicate the state from which a 
vehicle was registered. For example, Land of 
Honour, Heartbeat of Nigeria, Centre of 
Excellence, Sunshine State, Confluence State, 
State of Harmony, Gateway State, Pacesetter 
State, Land of Virtue and Centre of Unity to 
mention but a few are the slogans embossed on 
the number plates of vehicles believed to have 
been registered in Èkìtì, Edo, Lagos, Oǹdó, 
Kogí, Kwara, Ògùn, Ò̩ yo ̩́ and O ̩̀s un states and 
Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory 
respectively.  
 

In some cases, too, metal inscriptions on 
the number plates of vehicles are utilised to 
inform the public about the social pedigree of 
the owners of such automobiles. Essentially, 
there are three categories of number plates 
issued to vehicle owners by the Federal Road 
Safety Corps (FRSC). They are: Standard, Fancy 
and Out of Series. The Standard is also known 
as the general type which is the common type 
issued to any vehicle owner at a regulated cost 
upon meeting all the requirements stipulated 
by the Motor Vehicle Administration 
(MVA)Department of the Federal Road Safety 
Commission (FRSC). The registration fee 
depends on the state of the Federation from 
which issuance is made. For example, it is 
generally believed that it is much costlier or 
more expensive to obtain a vehicle registration 
number from either Lagos State or Abuja (the 


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Vol. 19 No. 2 – October 2019                                                                                                                   ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 

 
113 

 
federal capital) than from any other states of 
the Federation. By this token, it is only those 
who can afford the high cost of registering 
their vehicles in either of those two highly 
urbanised and frequently preferred states that 
do so. Other vehicle owners who cannot afford 
the high cost will prefer to register their 
vehicles in other states whose registration fees 
are not as high. 
 

The Fancy and Out of Series types are the 
customised types. They both attract a higher 
cost from any vehicle owner who wishes to 
obtain either of the two types because of their 
specialised nature. The Out of Series type of 
number plate is obtained when owner of a new 
vehicle decides to customise his/her vehicle 
registration number. It is very expensive and 
often bought or used by few vehicle owners. It 
is only those who belong to a high social class 
such as the politicians, business moguls, 
notable ‘Obas’, ‘Emirs’, ‘Obis’, captains of 
industries and other categories of influential 
personalities in the society that usually go for 
the Fancy or Out of Series type. Instances of Out 
of Series class of number plates include the 
number plates of notable personalities in the 
society who have decided to customise their 
vehicles for the purpose of exhibiting their 
affluence and influence in the society. 
Oftentimes, it is possible for one to come 
across private vehicles that convey the Out of 
Series number  plates like O̩ló̩̩lá-2, Yèyélájé, 
Ò̩̩túnba, Yèyé Oge, Adégoróyè, De Guv and 
Owónikókó, to mention but a few. They are 
vehicle insignia specifically peculiar to private 
vehicle owners, and they are used to depict the 
social status of the users. 
 

Moreover, a rather novel dimension to the 
Out of Series Class of number plates is the one 
that depicts the business of the vehicle owner. 
Some Nigerian business moguls usually 
specially order for the Out of Series Class. In 
most cases, they associate the customised 
number plates with the kind of professions in 
which they engage. This practice is quite new 
and recent, and it is done for different 
purposes ranging from advertisements of 
products to delineation of social status. For 
example, Ebony Funeral Ltd is an undertaker 
company that is widely known in the 
southwest and beyond. It specializes in 
arranging funeral activities. The organization 

offers multipurpose funeral services and 
burial advisory service which include sales of 
befitting caskets, organization of pall bearers 
at burial ceremonies and also hiring of hearse 
that conveys the coffin. The undertaker 
company has the two types of Out of Series 
number plate on its fleet of vehicles for 
identification. The number plate that has 
either the name of the company (EBONY) or a 
gold-plated number like 6FT boldly engraved 
on the number plate is usually hung on the 
bumper of the hearse and all other vehicles 
that belong to the company. The inscription 
(either EBONY or 6FT) on the bumper of the 
utility vehicles of the company speaks volumes 
about the nature of business of the company.  
 

The Fancy type equally is an exclusive 
type. It is of a high quality and is used by 
institutionalized bodies such as government 
agencies, institutions of higher learning, 
ministries, parastatals and members of 
diplomatic corps. The instance of few 
individuals in the society specially requesting 
for customized number plates from the issuing 
agency may not be unlikely in a stratified 
society like Nigeria where class and 
occupation constitute very important 
sociolinguistic markers. Since the study of 
sociolinguistics covers the relationship 
between social class and language variety, it is 
valid to assume that one of the ways in which 
people construct their identities and status in 
the society is through the use of the exclusive 
type of metal inscriptions on the number 
plates of their vehicles. This type reveals the 
socio-economic status as well as the profession 
of the owners of the vehicles on which 
customized number plates are hung. Such 
customized vehicle inscriptions which are 
believed to belong to owners of vehicles who 
occupy high social strata in the society are 
quite common on the major roads in Nigeria. 
All of these categories are of interest to this 
paper. 
 

The history of the use of vehicle 
inscriptions in Nigeria is shrouded in 
obscurity. This is because there is no known 
history of the use of these moving emblems in 
the country. The scanty literatures on this 
research study were imprecise about the exact 
period vehicle inscriptions emerged in the 
country. For instance, Chiluwa (2008, p. 373) 


Journal of Language and Literature 

ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online)                                                                               Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun 

Oloyede 

 
114 

 
traces the inception of the art of inscribing 
phrases and sentences on vehicles to the early 
70s. According to him, the most common 
inscriptions on vehicles then bore such 
writings as ‘goods only’, ‘private’ or ‘goods or 
owner’s risk’ (see Chiluwa 2008, pp. 373-374). 
While we agree that the examples of vehicle 
inscriptions cited above used to be some of the 
few inscriptions on the bodies of vehicles then, 
we, however, argue here that the use of vehicle 
inscription actually predates this period. In 
fact, the history can be traced to the beginning 
of the use of automobiles in the country. Our 
argument is based on the premises that, first, 
Nigeria is a former British colony, and the 
British administrators that ruled Nigeria 
before independence were believed to have 
owned automobiles on which a few 
inscriptions must have been written. 
 

Second, when the colonial administrators 
left the Nigerian shores and the country 
attained political independence in 1960, 
Nigerians too were believed to have had their 
own vehicles on which they inscribed phrases 
and sentences that conveyed a variety of 
messages to the reading public. In other words, 
shortly after independence, it is assumed that 
Nigerians among whom were budding 
politicians, small and large scale business 
entrepreneurs, civil servants and transporters 
owned their own cars, buses and lorries. It was 
indeed a period when professional drivers 
found it fashionable to inscribe catchy phrases 
on the bodies of their vehicles for aesthetic 
purpose as a demonstration of their ownership 
of automobiles in the comity of vehicle users. 
Then, such vehicle inscriptions as: Fálànà gbó̩̩ 
tìe̩ (Mind your own business), Igi á rúwé (The 
tree will sprout leaves), Àti dádé kìnìún (Before 
the crowning of the lion), Kó̩̩rò̩̩ tó dayò̩̩ (Before 
a situation turns joyous), Àbùsí Èdùmàrè 
(Over-flowing blessings of the Almighty God), 
‘Why worry’, ‘Sea Never Dry’, Nagode Allah 
(Thank you God), and ‘Man go wack’ among 
other inscriptions were in much use, especially 
between the 60s and mid 70s.It is however, 
interesting to note that those vehicle writings 
were popular and notable for the profound 
messages they conveyed to the public. Besides, 
many of those inscriptions depicted the 
philosophies and the world-views of the 
owners or operators of the vehicles. 

 
Another reason that can be adduced for 

the long history of the art of inscribing words 
and phrases on vehicles is that vehicle owners 
in those days used to keep their old, rickety 
and unserviceable vehicles in front of their 
houses as relics instead of disposing of them. 
The vehicles were usually parked in front of 
their owners’ houses to serve as reminders of 
their first ownership of automobiles. Our 
findings revealed that most of these decrepit 
and stationary vehicles parked in front of 
owners’ houses or at the mechanic workshops 
used to carry faint and weather-beaten 
inscriptions with faint registration numbers 
which bore semblance of the period between 
1953 and 1962 when Nigeria had three regions 
of South, West and North. Vehicles on which 
some of those inscriptions were found used to 
carry such quaint number plates as: WE 7449, 
WD 3612, LW 1940, WC 1212 and WF 3378 
indicating registration numbers from 
Abe ̩́òkúta, Oǹdó, Lagos, Òs ogbo and Ife ̩̀ 
respectively. Those old and extinct registration 
numbers were number plates common in the 
Western part of Nigeria in the 60s. The 
orthography of many of the writings on 
vehicles is another factor which suggests that 
the history of vehicle writings has been quite 
long; for, spellings on those vehicles were 
quaint and suggestive of the type of spellings 
in vogue before the inauguration in 1977 of the 
Committee on Yoruba Orthography. Examples 
of such inscriptions include, but are not limited 
to the following: Aiye loja (The world is a 
market place) instead of Ayé lo̩jà, Suru logun 
aiye (Patience is the medicine of life) instead of 
Sùúrù loògùn ayé and Aro lawa(The crippled 
will drive it) instead of Àárò̩̩ la wà (We are in 
the morning [of our lives]). Some would 
jokingly say, ‘Èmi ò lè wo ko ̩̀ táro  máa wà’ (I 
cannot board a vehicle that will be driven by a 
crippled driver!). 

 
In addition, the vehicles on which some of 

these inscriptions were found used to serve as 
mini-kiosks and make-shift ‘restaurants’ 
where the mechanics in whose workshops the 
vehicles were abandoned usually kept their 
working tools, took their meals and even took 
a nap when there was no patronage. The above 
facts serve as reasons for claiming that the 
history of vehicle writings in Nigeria predates 


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115 

 
the 70s. However, when commuter buses 
known as móòlùè̩̩ and dáńfó in the Southwest 
and kelukelu in the East later became another 
popular means of transportation, more 
inscriptions that constructed more concepts 
and larger world views emerged. By the 1970s, 
vehicle inscriptions quickly gained patronage 
and prominence, and over the years, have 
served a wide range of purposes. They 
provided social commentary on current 
affairs; they elucidated on social and political 
events; they reflected the users’ prevailing 
circumstances as well as espoused political 
ideologies. They also reflected the users’ 
personal philosophies and constructed 
warnings to public safety.  They have also 
become potent media for class placement with 
varying messages to depict vehicle typology.
  

By the turn of the 60s, vehicle 
inscriptions had gained unprecedented 
prominence as they used to serve as nick-
names or metonymy for the users. A nick-
name, according to Hornby (2000: 790), ‘is an 
informal, often humorous, name for a person 
that is connected with their real name, their 
personality, or appearance, or with something 
they have done’. Ají̩leye and Ají̩leye (1997, p. 
195) cited in Quercoopome (1987, p. 118) also 
remark that ‘a nick-name gives an individual a 
distinct character and makes a person become 
united in one body with the society’. Hornby 
(ibid) defines metonymy ‘as the act of referring 
to something by the name of something else 
that is closely related to it….’ Metonymy too 
involves replacing the name of something with 
something that is connected to it without being 
the whole thing. For example, ‘Aso Rock’ which 
is the seat of government in Abuja, Nigeria is 
synonymous with the Presidency just in the 
same way as the White House is symbolic of the 
US Presidential residence and administrative 
centre in Washington D.C. The point being 
made here is that inscriptions reveal a lot 
about the users and the society/culture to 
which the users belong. In other words, they 
can tell the public about who the users are. 
There have been occasions, for instance, when 
vehicle users/owners were addressed by the 
inscriptions on the bodies of their automobiles. 
In some parts of the country in the 60s, for 
instance, there were instances when vehicle 
users/owners used to be known and addressed 
by the inscriptions on their vehicles. They were 

hardly addressed by their real names, most 
especially by those who were not closely 
related to them. Instead, the catchy 
inscriptions on their vehicles were generally 
taken for the owners’ personal names. In such 
cases, the inscriptions on their vehicles 
eventually became their aliases, nick-names or 
even surnames. It was very common then to 
hear the public, especially the regular 
customers or close associates of those vehicle 
users/owners, saying: Mótò Sùúrù ni mò ń bá lo̩ 
sí Èkó ló̩̩ la (It is Sùúrù’s vehicle that I will board 
to Lagos tomorrow), Mò ń lo̩ só̩̩dò̩̩ Bàbá Iréwo̩lé 
(I am going to Iréwo̩lé’s father). One of the 
researchers still remembers with nostalgia 
that in the early 60s, there used to be a famous 
transporter in his town then who was 
popularly called Bàbá Àmò̩̩ó(which was not the 
real name) because the inscription on his fleet 
of commercial vehicles which he was using for 
transportation bore the inscription: T’Olúwa ni 
yó se̩, A. Àmò̩̩ó.  It is interesting to remark that 
only a handful of people in the locality knew 
him by his real name. Others, especially those 
who were not too close to him, knew him by the 
trade name on his fleet of vehicles.  
 

Similarly, the owners of the ageless yet 
thriving transport companies in the Eastern 
part of the country are simply referred to as 
Ekene Dili Chukwu, ‘The young shall grow’ and 
‘ABC’ up till now even when the names are not 
their personal names. The names are just the 
brand or trade names of those transport 
companies rather than the real names of the 
owners. This phenomenon is not peculiar to 
Nigeria alone. In his study of vehicle 
inscriptions in Ghana, for instance, Oduro-
Frimpong (2013, p. 3) remarks that:  

 
I observed how drivers referred to one 
another either by the full or an abbreviated 
form of the inscriptions on their vehicles. As 
some of them intimated, in most cases, their 
fellow drivers do not know one another’s 
actual names. All the drivers I interviewed 
were known by their vehicle inscriptions 
only and ‘owned’ such inscriptions because 
they evolved from their own personal 
experiences. 

 
The above excerpt underlines the fact that 

most drivers of the vehicles who use 
inscriptions that later become their aliases or 


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nicknames may not have necessarily been the 
owners of the vehicles they drive. The fact is 
that most of those drivers may have had very 
good working relationships with their masters 
and some of these bosses do allow the drivers 
to write their preferred inscriptions on the 
vehicles.  
 

It is important to know more about the 
philosophies behind some of these sayings. 
Some of the messages are words of wisdom; 
others are of hope, belief, expression of 
frustration, advice to others, or 
acknowledgement of God’s blessings and 
supremacy. The drivers do not just write what 
they like; the words really mean something to 
them. Sometimes, they emanate from some 
deep sub-conscious desires. Something may 
have happened to the driver or car owner in the 
past that finds an expression in the slogan on 
the vehicle. Sometimes, through the efforts, 
seriousness and dedication of drivers, owners 
have been able to increase the number of buses 
in their fleet. So, when one sees inscriptions 
like ‘Honest Labour’ or ‘No food for a lazy man’ 
written on a vehicle, one must think of what lies 
behind. This, in essence, implies that most of 
the writings we see are not just there for 
ornamental purpose, but there is always a 
philosophy behind such writings. According to 
Oduro-Frimpong (ibid), vehicle inscriptions 
are ‘based on people’s experiences… as these 
inscriptions are embedded in human 
interpersonal relationships and on careful 
reflection, in personal social experience’. 
 

Another interesting thing about vehicle 
inscriptions is that sometimes, both the drivers 
and the artists are illiterate and they write 
grammar or spelling that is funny when read by 
the public. The funny aspect is that neither the 
artists nor the drivers of the automobiles that 
transport such writings are really aware of the 
errors inherent in the captions. Even when 
their attention is drawn to the errors, they 
seem not to care about the negative signal 
which the deviant grammatical expressions 
send to the reading public. The illiterate drivers 
merely drive away gleefully with such 
grammatically inept inscriptions as ‘God day’, 
‘Holly Ghost’, God time’, ‘Nobody know 
tomorrow’, ‘Noting pass God’, ‘God Favour’, ‘No 
king has god’ and a host of other 

ungrammatical expressions instead of ‘God 
dey’, ‘Holy Ghost’, ‘God’s time’, ‘Nobody knows 
tomorrow’, ‘Nothing passes God’, ‘God’s 
Favour’ and ‘No King as God’ respectively. 
Interestingly, some of the artists are so gifted 
and write beautiful fonts that present an eye-
catching effect on vehicles.  Others are poor 
calligraphers who scribble art pieces that are 
mere eye-sores. However, modern 
civilizations, the penchant for social prestige 
and advancement in science and technology 
have given birth to the emergence of stickers as 
another means of communication among 
vehicle owners. In other words, the use of 
stickers on vehicles for communicative 
purpose is a recent phenomenon. It is an 
outgrowth of advancement in science and 
technology.  A sticker, according to Wikipedia 
(https://en. m. wikipedia.org>wiki> Bumper, 
accessed 18th June, 2017), ‘is a type of a piece of 
paper or plastic, sticky on one side, and usually 
with a design and a message on the other’. The 
adhesive material today enjoys unparalleled 
patronage and popularity in homes, by vehicle 
owners as well as commercial motorcycle 
operators popularly called ‘ò̩̣ kadà’ riders.  
 

Today, vehicle stickers seem to have 
assumed a ubiquitous status: they are found 
almost everywhere. They are hawked at the 
motor parks, motor spare parts shops and 
along the road sides. The use of stickers on 
vehicles began to gain prominence and attract 
high patronage at the early part of the 80s. It 
received tremendous and unprecedented 
upsurge in the 80s when the country began to 
witness a rapid technological advancement in 
screen-printing technology. The culture of 
posting sticker on almost every conceivable 
object is a very remarkable phenomenon these 
days. Almost every tangible object, however 
small, has a sticker stuck on it. Objects such as 
purse, bag, water bottle, plastic materials, 
household equipment, motor bikes, tricycles, 
vehicles and a host of other personal effects 
now attract the patronage of stickers. Vehicle 
sticker language is often constructed in 
affective style because the language in which it 
is constructed affects people’s feelings, enters 
into their imagination, influences their 
emotions, and often leaves an indelible 
impression of profound truth. It is important 
also to note that considerable variation exists 


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117 

 
around the world as to the context and purpose 
of stickers. This study reveals that there is a 
preponderance of use of stickers over that of 
inscriptions because of a higher patronage 
accorded the stickers. The reasons for the 
preponderance of use of stickers over 
inscriptions by vehicles users are many and 
varied.  

As earlier mentioned, modern civilization, 
and advancement in science and technology 
have seriously popularized the patronage 
accorded vehicle stickers. Advancement in 
electronic and print technology has 
tremendously given an unprecedented impetus 
to the popularity stickers enjoy among 
household materials and vehicles. The reasons 
for the upsurge of interest in the adhesive 
material are not far-fetched. One of the reasons, 
for instance, is that they are very accessible. 
Their accessibility makes it very convenient for 
their patrons to purchase them in substantial 
quantity and post them on the different parts of 
their automobiles: the front and rear wind-
screens or both sides of an automobile. The 
front and rear bumpers of a vehicle, especially 
a private vehicle, equally carry the adhesive 
materials. The ornamental and aesthetic 
emblems can easily be obtained in spare-parts 
shops and at the road-side. Besides, they are 
cheap and affordable. As a result of their 
cheapness, it is common nowadays to come 
across a large number of automobiles on 
Nigerian roads heavily bedecked with stickers 
of varying colours and sizes which, not only add 
beauty and glamour to the vehicles, but also 
transmit a myriad of profound messages to the 
readers.  
 

Similarly, the affordability and 
accessibility of these moving emblems make 
them a more common sight than inscriptions 
because while a vehicle can have only an 
inscription embossed on it, a variety of sticker 
emblems can be found on that same vehicle. 
Moreover, vehicle stickers are not only cost-
effective, but are also less time-consuming to 
paste or fix and remove unlike the inscriptions 
that may take a longer time to inscribe on a 
vehicle. Users too need not spend fortunes at 
the sign-writers’ studios to inscribe messages 
on their vehicles. Instead, they can easily go for 
the cheap stickers which can be removed 
whenever the users want to replace them with 
another one. Usually, vehicles are frequently 

bought and sold, thus necessitating the new 
owners to remove and replace the old stickers 
with new ones according to the taste, the 
profession, the philosophy and religion of the 
new buyers since vehicle insignia in most cases 
represent the social, religious and 
philosophical sentiments of the users. Another 
reason for the preponderance of vehicle 
stickers over vehicle inscriptions is that they 
add to the value of an automobile because of 
the varying colours in which they are printed. 
Vehicle stickers add to the aesthetic beauty of 
automobiles. They possess a more aesthetic 
value than sign writings and produce a more 
eye-catching effect that can hardly be matched 
by sign writings. Therefore, the primary 
consumers of these vehicle stickers, that is, 
those who use them on their vehicles, can easily 
purchase the aesthetic ornaments along the 
road side at ridiculously low prices, and stick as 
many as catch their fancy on their vehicles in 
order to make their vehicles appear 
mesmerizing and appealing to passengers. 
Vehicle owners, most especially commercial 
vehicle owners, relish buying a large quantity 
of these brilliantly beautiful and captivating 
sticker emblems and post them on their 
vehicles partly to adorn their automobiles and 
partly to flaunt their status in the comity of 
vehicle owners. In some instances, commercial 
vehicle users, especially the drivers, use a large 
quantity of stickers with an array of colourful 
graphics on their vehicles as a measure of their 
urbane or civilized nature.  
 

Identification of vehicle registration is a 
unique feature of stickers on vehicles. This type 
of insignia is the sticker identifying vehicle 
registration which is often posted on the inside 
of most vehicle windscreens as proof of their 
road worthiness as well as evidence of the 
fulfilment of the requirements of the Federal 
Government to allow vehicles to ply Nigerian 
roads. Such identification tag is usually issued 
by both the Vehicle Inspection Unit (VIU) and 
the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). 
Vehicle users, both private and commercial, are 
under strict obligation to obtain the sticker 
emblems as any owner that fails to obtain the 
emblems usually has his/her vehicle 
impounded by either  the Vehicle Inspection 
Officers (VIO), the Federal Road Safety Corps 
(FRSC) or the police. Release of such an 
impounded vehicle is contingent on payment of 


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Oloyede 

 
118 

 
the fine imposed on the vehicle by the 
authorized vehicle regulatory body. This also 
makes the number of sticker users to outstrip 
that of users of inscriptions.  
 

Lastly and far most importantly is the 
changing nature of language and cultural 
values. It is a well-known fact that language and 
culture are inextricably woven and that both 
are highly dynamic (see Wardhaugh, 1986, 
Hudson, 1996, Babá̩ jí̩dé̩, 2004 and 
Akí̩nnà̩ wó̩ nù̩ , 2007). In a dynamic 
sociolinguistic milieu as we find in Nigeria, it is 
only natural that new vocabularies and novel 
concepts would invade the contents of vehicle 
stickers. It is therefore not unexpected that 
language will continually be responding to the 
dynamics of the society. Finegan (2004, p. 11) 
underscores the dynamic nature of language 
and culture when he remarks that ‘human 
capacity for linguistic inventiveness makes 
repeated sentences unlikely ….’ Finegan’s (ibid) 
remark is a clear indication that the readiness 
with which words respond to the dictates of the 
social environment makes language to be 
generative and re-creative (see also 
Akí̩nnà̩ wó̩ nù̩ , 2007, pp. 6-7 and Omoloso, 
2012). For instance, Akí̩nnà̩ wó̩ nù̩  (ibid) attests 
the dynamic nature of language in relation to 
the changing phases of culture. According to 
him, 

 
When a new idea crops up, the society 
develops new linguistic concept adopts it 
and spreads its understanding to other 
members  of the society. This will eventually 
lead to increase in their vocabulary. Most 
often, changes in linguistic vocabularies do 
occur as a result of exposure to foreign 
cultures or external influences. The point 
being emphasized here is that culture is not 
static just as language is evolutionary. Both 
language and culture keep evolving as 
instruments of social engineering. 

 
The above excerpt underscores the reason 

why the youths and semi-educated commercial 
drivers of nowadays post all sorts of slangs and 
neologisms that seem unfamiliar to the older 
ones on their vehicles. This is as a result of the 
over-bearing influence of foreign cultures on 
the youth, especially in the area of music. 
Although the writings on the stickers may 

sound deviant and sloppy, they are just 
products of western civilization as well as the 
users’ exposure to foreign music. While noting 
that the dynamic nature of language affects all 
ages, Ají̩leye and Ají̩leye (1997, p. 13), 
however, strongly believe that the wind of 
linguistic dynamism is blowing more 
noticeably on the youths than the old ones. It is 
not surprising then that slangs and neologisms 
as well as funny writings are more commonly 
found in stickers than inscriptions. Different 
messages from the simple to the profound, 
from the secular to the spiritual, attract higher 
patronage in stickers than inscriptions. Those 
who use this type of slang and funny 
expressions on their vehicles, especially the 
intra-city vehicles, splash those vehicles with 
different types of the insignia, each conveying 
its own funny and weird messages. It is not so 
surprising that intra-city transit buses 
‘transport’ this large quantity of stickers about. 
The fact is that the stickers are in much greater 
use than inscriptions because they are cost-
effective, affordable and can easily be replaced 
with another one.  
 

In recent times, vehicle stickers have 
become a formidable platform for advertising 
goods and services. Such adverts can be posted 
either on the bumper, on the windscreen or on 
the body of the vehicle. Examples can be found 
among buses and articulated vehicles carrying 
the adverts of any of the mobile 
communications outfits such as, MTN, GLO, 
Airtel and Etisalat or those that advertise 
confectioneries and other products. They are a 
veritable means of advertising, and they are far 
more effective and less costly than the radio, 
television or newspaper advertisement 
because of the far and distant places covered 
by the vehicles that transport the 
advertisements. They equally serve not only as 
identity markers to the users, but also as an 
effective medium towards evangelizing. Since 
our sense of self is usually delineated along the 
clines of race, ethnicity/tribe, language, 
nationality, gender, age, marital/social status 
and religion, it is to be expected, that every 
religion should have identity markers that help 
determine its status and role in the society. 
Adherents of each of the religions in this 
respect express total allegiance to the sects to 
which they belong. One of the ways by which 


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119 

 
this allegiance is demonstrated is eloquently 
and semiotically through the use of stickers on 
the vehicles. 
 

Adherents of certain religious 
denominations often use the emblems on their 
bags or purses; in homes, on their Holy Books 
(either the Bible or the Quran), on their 
vehicles or any other object to identify their 
religious faith and propagate same to the 
public. It is also a means through which 
religious bodies articulate their ideas, their 
religious beliefs and philosophies to the public, 
thereby making the public see their 
organizations as being ‘patronizable’. 
Examples of such sticker texts that are posted 
on the dashboards or bumpers of vehicles 
include, among several others, Celestial Family, 
Givers never lack, Back to sender, Anglican 
Family, Baptist Family, I am proud to be a 
Catholic, Foursquare, Winner and I am a 
member of Seventh Day Adventist all of which 
refer to the Christian faithful. The Muslim 
faithful too use sticker identifiers on their 
vehicles or other personal effects. Such sticker 
writings include: Quareeb, NASFAT, Bismillahi, 
S.A.W (the usual praise name for Allah). They 
serve not only as totems or identity markers 
for the users but also as a popular medium to 
express wishes and desires for a particular 
year or season among the Christian faithful. 
For instance, it is not an uncommon 
phenomenon among churches in Nigeria to 
articulate their watchwords for a particular 
year on specially designed stickers which the 
members of such Christian organizations buy 
with zeal and passion and fix same in their 
homes or on other personal effects like 
vehicles, bags, purses and other objects. The 
messages contained in the emblems may 
include the following: 2012: My Year of 
Elevation, 2012: My Year of Glory, 2013: My 
Year of New Song, 2013: My Year of Divine 
Favour, 2013: My Year of Laughter, 
Unshakeable 2014, EXPLOITS 2014, 2015: My 
Year of Faithful Worship and 2016: My Year of 
Divine Presence and Rest. Such occasional 
vehicle emblems are many and varied because 
of the proliferation of religious places in 
Nigeria. They are often bought by the faithful 
in appreciable quantity and presented as gifts 
to friends and relations who are not 
necessarily members of their denomination. 
The divine messages inherent in the stickers 

are held sacrosanct by the adherents of the 
Christian faiths because of their implicit belief 
that the promises contained in the messages 
have been divinely sanctioned and, 
consequently, will surely come to pass in their 
lives.  
 

Other instances of the use of stickers can 
be found in the domain of social engagements, 
that is, those that construct social activities 
such as wedding and funeral ceremonies. 
Vehicles, especially the private ones, which are 
used on social engagements, usually carry 
stickers which bear inscriptions like About to 
Wed, Just Married, Happy Married Life, X weds Y, 
Good Night, mama, and Celebration of a fulfilled 
life. This type of stickers can be referred to as 
occasional stickers because they are relevant 
only for the occasion for which they are posted. 
They are later removed from the vehicles on 
which they are hung immediately the occasion 
that calls for their use is over. It is to be noted 
also that the stickers serve both aesthetic and 
communicative purposes in this context. They 
not only adorn the number plates on which 
they are hung, they also communicate the 
event that warrants their use to the public. 
Moreover, stickers too serve as objects that 
give expression to philosophical concepts. For 
instance, the sticker or inscription text that 
reads Bí è̩̩mí bá wà (If there is life) is a profound 
expression of a philosophical concept. Other 
examples of inscriptions that construct 
philosophical concepts include, Rírò ni tènìyàn 
(Man proposes), E ̩ dá ò lárò pin, igi á rúwé (Man 
should not be under-valued, the tree will 
sprout leaves), Wé̩̩ré̩̩ nis̩é̩̩ Olúwa (The work of 
God is with ease), Ojú e̩ní máa là (Whoever will 
be successful in life), ‘Remember your six feet’, 
Kó̩̩ rò̩̩ tó dayò̩̩ (Before a situation becomes 
joyous), Ìbàjé̩̩ ènìyàn (The derision of a man), 
Ara lamò̩̩  (Knowing oneself), Oore lópé (Doing 
good is profitable) and several other 
philosophical inscriptions and stickers that 
express, in a variety of ways, profound truth 
about life situations.  
 

Furthermore, veteran musicians are 
celebrated on beautifully coloured stickers 
posted on vehicles by the vehicle users, 
especially commercial vehicle drivers, partly to 
express their love and admiration for the 
musical icons and partly as a consequence of 
their exposure to the western cultures of which 


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music is part. Consequently, fans of notable 
veteran musicians like King Sunny Adé̩ (K.S.A), 
Ebenezer Obey, Alhaji Sí̩kí̩rù̩  Àyì̩ndé̩ Barrister, 
Kollington Àyì̩nlá̩ , Saheed Òsù̩ pá̩ , Whizkid, 
Davido, Tu pac and Alhaji Wà̩sí̩ù̩  Àlà̩ bí̩ Pasuma, 
to mention but a few, abound among 
commercial drivers in the Southwest of 
Nigeria. They are so fond of these musical 
icons, and they make no pretence of their 
admiration for them. One of the ways by which 
they demonstrate this love and admiration is 
through the use of sticker emblems bearing the 
portraits of those musical icons. They purchase 
a variety of stickers that have the full or half 
portraits of these musical maestros sometimes 
with their aliases below the pictures and 
emboss them usually on the front and rear 
windscreens of their vehicles. For example, a 
vehicle on which the portrait of Alhaji Sí̩kí̩rù̩  
Àyì̩ndé̩ Barrister (the late fuji maestro) is 
posted will most likely have the alias Alhaji 
àgbà (Big Alhaji) just below the picture. 
Equally, Kébé ń Kwara (The agile man from 
Kwara), Agbo Jésù (Jesus’ fold) and O ̩ gá ńlá 
(Fújì) (Big boss [of Fújì]) are aliases with which 
Alhaji Kollington Àyì̩nlá̩ , Lady Evangelist Tó̩ pé̩  
Àlà̩ bí̩ and Saheed Òsù̩ pá̩   respectively are 
identified among their numerous fans and 
admirers. The aliases signal, among other 
things, the ethnic group as well as the religion 
to which the musicians belong. Kébé ń Kwara, 
for instance, indicates that the bearer of the 
alias is from Kwara state while Agbo Jésù 
(Jesus’ fold) signals that the bearer to which 
the alias is attached is a Christian. Alhaji 
àgbà(big Muslim cleric) equally portrays the 
owner of the alias not only as a Muslim but as a 
devoted and highly venerated Muslim because 
of the qualifier àgbà. The users of the emblems 
are so proud and enthusiastic about the 
presence of the images of these musicians as if 
their entire existence depends on the presence 
of the musicians’ portraits on their 
automobiles.  
 

The high patronage vehicle stickers enjoy, 
however, does not imply that the use of vehicle 
inscriptions has gone into oblivion. The vehicle 
inscriptions are equally in use although in 
much less frequency. We still come across 
instances of the use of vehicle inscriptions that 
construct deep and profound social, religious, 
political and philosophical ideas. For instance, 

some segments of the society like the 
educational institutions and companies still 
use inscriptions alongside stickers to project 
the corporate image of their institutions or 
companies to the public. Inscriptions too are 
common among móòlùè̩̩(18-seater buses that 
operate in some cosmopolitan cities) and some 
other commercial vehicles. But the point we 
are trying to make here is that although 
inscriptions are still used on some commercial 
vehicles, nonetheless, vehicle stickers are in 
much greater use because the latter are 
cheaper, more accessible, and are much easier 
to remove and replace than the former. It is 
interesting to remark at this juncture that both 
vehicle inscription and sticker texts share 
similar characteristics in some respect. One 
remarkable area in which they both intersect is 
in the area of politics, especially during 
election period. It is during this period that 
inscriptions and stickers become useful 
communicative tools in the hands of 
politicians. Political inscriptions and stickers 
on vehicles construct social events and trends. 
They are considered as a very effective means 
of getting voters’ support in the same manner 
as the print or electronic media do, even at a 
much less cost.  
 

In fact, one of the most visually striking 
ways in which political parties sell themselves 
during an election is through the use of 
inscriptions and stickers. Many of these 
emblems are placed on the front and rear 
windscreens of vehicles used for political 
campaigns. In some cases too, the entire bodies 
of vehicles are branded with the portraits of 
political figures indicating the political parties 
to which they belong and the posts or offices 
they are seeking. The branded vehicles move 
from one place to another, ‘selling’ the 
candidature of the politicians to the generality 
of the public.  The inscriptions and stickers too 
come in various forms, one of which is in form 
of slogans. Slogans are devised to persuade and 
convince; so not surprisingly, political parties 
use them as part of their persuasive strategies. 
The varieties of slogans deployed by political 
parties are in form of inscriptions and stickers. 
For instance, during the Second Republic in 
Nigeria’s political history, political figures 
were celebrated in recognition of their 
contributions to the birth, growth and 


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121 

 
development of the country. Such political 
icons as Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and Chief O bá̩ fe ̩́mi 
Awó̩ lo ̩́ wo ̩̀, though dead, still live in the hearts of 
their admirers because many of their admirers 
still keep these stickers and inscriptions that 
bear their portraits as relics. During the period 
Chief Awó̩ ló̩ wo ̩̀ and Dr Azikwe held sway on 
the nation’s political firmament, stickers and 
inscriptions of their political parties were 
embossed beautifully on a variety of objects to 
espouse the political ideals of those frontline 
politicians. Those national heroes and 
statesmen were celebrated even after their 
demise with a lavish display of their portraits 
on vehicles and other objects. In the present 
dispensation, too, stickers and inscriptions 
have become an eloquent means of political 
engineering by politicians. In the Southwest, 
for example, two political parties are 
prominent. They are: the ruling All 
Progressives Congress (APC) and the 
opposition party, People’s Democratic Party 
(PDP).  Each of the two political parties has its 
own gubernatorial flag bearer. Each of the flag 
bearers, too, has his own slogans with which he 
is identified by the party faithful. While Mr. 
Akeredolu the Ondo state present governor is 
popularly known by his admirers as 
‘Arákùnrin’, Alhaji Gbóyèga Oyèto ̩́lá of O ̩̀s un 
state is fondly called ‘Ìlérí Olúwa’. These 
slogans briefly but memorably suggest 
something about the political figures on the 
inscriptions or stickers that bear their slogans. 
The slogans of the inscriptions or stickers carry 
striking characteristics which are constructed 
purposely to endear them to their readers as 
well as keep the support of their numerous 
party faithful.  
 

Another remarkable area of convergence 
between vehicle inscriptions and stickers is in 
the crisp construction of messages on the 
bodies of vehicles. In this manner, a part of an 
expression, especially a figurative expression 
like a proverb, is used leaving out the other 
part for readers to complete. What this implies 
is that, a segment or a Noun phrase(NP) of a 
sentence is written only for the readers to 
complete the other syntactic segment or Verb 
phrase (VP). Such inscription and sticker texts 
sometimes constitute what can be termed as 
jigsaw puzzle aimed at tasking the cognitive 
domain of the readers. It is only the discerning 
ones, especially those who are deeply rooted in 

cultural values and versed in local and 
figurative sayings that can successfully 
complete the other segment of the expression. 
Examples of such crisp and compact 
inscription and sticker expressions abound on 
vehicles, especially commercial vehicles. Often 
times, such vehicles transport wise sayings 
across the length and breadth of the region for 
readers to drink, as it were, from the fountain 
of wisdom which the vehicles disseminate. 
Such didactic and philosophical sticker and 
inscription expressions include, ‘Human 
Confidence’, ‘The fear of God’, Àwòdì òkè (The 
heavenly eagle), A ̀́árò̩̩  la wà (We are in the 
dawn of our lives), Fálànà gbó̩̩  tìe̩ (Mind your 
own business), Ayé lo̩jà (The world is a market 
place), Àti dádé̩̩́ kìnìún (Before the crowning of 
the lion), Rírò ni tènìyàn (Man proposes), Te̩ní 
bé̩̩gi lójù (The hewer of a tree only has 
something to regret over), E̩ni a fé̩̩ la mò̩̩  (We 
know only those who love us),The downfall of a 
man and Ankuri (Patience) to mention but a 
few. The figurative expressions above, apart 
from the fact that they are wise sayings and 
thought-provoking, constitute the syntactic 
segments of some sentences.  

 In addition, the full realization of the 
constituent parts will read thus: ‘Human 
confidence is vanity’, ‘The fear of God is the 
beginning of wisdom’, Àwòdì òkè kòmò̩̩  pé ará 
ilè̩̩ ń wò òun (The eagle that perches heaven-
wards does not realise that those beneath are 
watching it), Àáró̩̩  la wà, o̩ba jé̩̩ kálé̩̩ ye̩ wá (We 
are in the dawn of our lives, may it please God 
to let us end well), Fálànà gbó̩̩  tìe̩, tara e̩ni làá 
gbó̩̩ (Falana, mind your own business as we 
mind ours), Ayé lo̩jà, ò̩̩ run nilé (The world is a 
market place while heaven is [our] home), Àti 
dádé̩̩́ kìnìún, kò sè̩̩yìn Elédùmarè (The crowning 
of the lion is not without God’s knowledge), 
Rírò ni tènìyàn, s̩ís̩é ni ti O̩ló̩̩ run (Man proposes, 
God disposes), Te̩ní bé̩̩gi lójù, igi á rúwé (The 
tree feller only dissipates his energy, the tree 
will [soon] sprout leaves), E̩ni a fé̩̩ la mò̩̩ , a kò 
me̩ni tó fe̩ni (We only know whom we love; we 
do not know who loves one), ‘The downfall of a 
man is not the end of his life and Ankuri, magani 
duniyan (Patience is the medicine of the world; 
that is, patience is needed to survive in the 
world) respectively. All of these vehicle 
inscription and sticker insignia constitute a 
rich source of food-for-thought to the readers. 
They also act as “philosophical capsules” that 
capture the users’ experiences (see Oduro-


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ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online)                                                                               Olusegun A. Faniran, Reuben O. Ikotun & Abiodun 

Oloyede 

 
122 

 
Frimpong 2013:1). Yankah (2011:15) argues 
that the vehicle inscriptions and stickers 
constitute “philosophical summaries” for the 
drivers. Taluah (2012:3) also says that such 
crisp and compact expressions as we find 
above are ‘sententious aphorisms, proverbs, 
puzzles and wise sayings with social and 
cultural dimensions....’. Moreover, they serve as 
a remarkable medium aimed at enriching the 
readers’ knowledge about their immediate 
environments as well as expanding their 
linguistic and intellectual horizons since 
proverbs and wise sayings are a part of 
individuals’ cultural heritage. 

 
They are also a very good means of brand 

recognition. The exposure that a business 
name and logo will get on vehicle inscriptions 
and stickers is immense. They ‘transport’ the 
names and corporate images of any 
organizations that use the emblems as far as 
the vehicles on which they are posted can 
travel to. Writings, signs and other semiotic 
icons on vehicles are now a visible 
phenomenon on many commercial vehicles in 
Southwest in particular and Nigeria in general. 
At least, one out of three vehicles that trail 
along the roads and highways of the cities and 
various regions in the country carry bold 
writings and stickers which convey diverse 
forms of meaning in the texts of their messages. 
As a matter of fact, the patronage which vehicle 
inscriptions and stickers are accorded in 
recent times has been quite unprecedented. A 
few reasons can be adduced to the spate of 
patronage which vehicle inscriptions and 
stickers have been receiving among 
automobile users. First, there has been an 
unprecedented surge in vehicular activities 
between the latter part of the 80s till date as a 
result of the various economic policies of the 
successive governments in the country 
towards making almost average income earner 
own a vehicle. As public servants in the country 
experience the presence of their various 
employers through enhanced salaries and 
emoluments, there is a tendency for them to 
improve their social status. A visible index of 
an enhanced social status in this respect is 
undoubtedly a possession of automobiles. As 
the number of private vehicles increases on the 
roads, so is the tendency for other sectors to 
receive an enhanced status too through 

acquisition of vehicles. It therefore becomes 
obvious that more vehicles on the road will 
likely lead to a greater use of vehicle emblems 
which express divergent messages.  

 
Another factor responsible for the 

upsurge in vehicular activities is not 
unconnected with the various mass-oriented 
programmes of the federal, state and local 
governments across the country one of which 
is the mass transit programmes of these three 
tiers of government. In a bid to impact 
positively on the lives of the citizenry and make 
them enjoy the dividends of democracy, 
successive Nigerian governments have, at one 
time or the other, introduced mass transit 
programmes across the three tiers of 
government. The various programmes are 
geared towards ameliorating transportation 
challenges being faced by the masses. In this 
respect, each local and state governments and 
the federal government too have their own 
mass transit programmes with their 
corresponding logos and inscriptions boldly 
displayed on the bodies of the vehicles in their 
fleet. For the purpose of institutional 
identification, the utility vehicles that serve the 
purpose of inter/intra city mass transits of 
those various governments usually carry not 
only the logos but also the names of the 
institutional owners of the mass transit buses. 
The mass transit vehicles are cross-country 
commercial vehicles, that is to say they travel 
across all the parts of the country. Some of the 
intra-and inter-state mass transit vehicles 
which carry such inscriptions and stickers 
include, ‘Kwara Line’, ‘Degema Local 
Government Mass Transit’, ‘Edo Line’, ‘In God 
We Trust’, ‘Àjù̩ mo ̩̀ se Line’, ‘O mo lú̩à̩ bí̩ Scholar 
Bus’ (mass transit commercial vehicles owned 
by the governments of Èkìtì, O ̩̀yo ̩́ and O ̩̀s un 
states respectively), ‘Kogi Mass Transit’, 
‘Okene Line’, ‘Federal Government Assisted 
Mass Transit’, ‘Imo Transport Company’ (ITC) 
and a host of others. The mass transit vehicles 
greatly enhance the patronage which the 
inscriptions and stickers have continued to 
receive in recent times.   

 
Moreover, the upsurge in religious 

activities in the last few years in the country 
has continued to promote the high prevalence 
of inscription and sticker expressions. In 


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Vol. 19 No. 2 – October 2019                                                                                                                   ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 

 
123 

 
Nigeria, Christianity and Islam are the two 
prominent religions that attract large 
followership. Various soul-lifting religious 
activities such as revival and crusade 
programmes utilize the medium of the 
inscriptions and stickers in addition to posters, 
leaflets, handbills or bill-boards to disseminate 
information about such programmes. But, in 
spite of the uses of both inscription and sticker 
texts as a means of communication, the general 
trend in the use of those emblems indicates 
that vehicle stickers and inscriptions are in 
much greater use than either hand-bills or 
posters. Although the scope of this study is 
limited to the Southwest Nigeria, it is not 
uncommon to come across automobiles that 
carry stickers, inscriptions and state slogans of 
other states than the states in the Southwest. 
For instance, a visit to any part of the country 
will reveal the unassailable fact that vehicles 
which carry the stickers, inscriptions and 
number plate slogans of other ethno-linguistic 
groups abound in great numbers in those 
towns and other less cities. 
 

Conclusion 
 
We have catalogued the history, 

characteristics and uses of vehicle stickers and 
inscriptions in Southwest Nigeria. We argue 
that vehicle stickers and inscriptions 
constitute a popular medium of discourse as 
they construct a vital aspect of the culture of 
communication among vehicle operators in the 
Southwest of Nigeria. We argue also that 
vehicle inscriptions and stickers are a popular 
medium of discourse because, for quite a long 
time now, writings on vehicles have become a 
form of communication which has acquired 
clear-cut artistic and linguistic dimensions. As 
a veritable medium of meaning generation, 
vehicle insignia have become ready tools in the 
hands of vehicle users to communicate a 
variety of messages to the public. We submit 
also that as more and more vehicles of different 
shapes and brands traverse the length and 
breadth of Nigerian roads daily so can 
inscriptions on religion, politics, 
entertainment, enlightenment, moral values 
and a host of others be found on the bodies of 
those automobiles in South-west Nigeria.  
 
Acknowledgement 
 

We are grateful to the Tertiary Education 
Trust Fund (TETFund) for providing financial 
assistance to carry out this research work. 

 
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