Electioneering activities can be tied to context; several studies have been conducted on the pragmatic analysis of electoral speeches. However, this research examined the pragmatic uses and functions of Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural speech. Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts alongside Halliday’s meta-functions was the theoretical framework deployed in this paper. Findings revealed that Buhari’s inaugural speech is a preponderance of Expressives at 31% and Commissives at 28%. The pronominal analysis of the speech portrayed the predominant use of the collective pronoun ‘we’ at 25%. The expressive used by Buhari performed interpersonal functions while, the commissives were based on the ideational function of language, the socio-political situation
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Josiah and Johnson embarked upon a speech acts analyses of these speeches and examined the speeches for face threatening and face saving acts. Oladimeji (2010) also explored the pragmatics of Umar Yardua’s inaugural speech (2007) using Lawal’s pragmatic theory in the analysis of his research data. Essential elements captured in his findings includes: intention, inference, presupposition, implicature and mutual contextual beliefs (MCBs). This paper explored the speech acts used by Muhammadu Buhari and the meta-functions as well as a pronominal reference analysis of Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural …show more content…
He became Nigeria’s Head of state from December 1983-August 1985. During this period, 500 politicians were imprisoned, critics of his administration such Fela Kuti were put behind bars and Sharia laws blossomed in the north at that time. Muhammadu Buhari after his retirement from the military contested severally and unsuccessfully for the position of Nigeria’s president. In 2003, he contested against Olusegun Obasanjo, 2007 Umar Yar’adua and 2011 Goodluck Jonathan. All three presidential candidates that defeated him emerged from the Peoples Democratic Party (P.D.P.). Unperturbed, by the failures of the past, Buhari under the party platform of the All Progressive Congress (an amalgamation of parties such as ACN, CPC, and APGA) strategised and won the 2015 election with the total number of 15,424,921 votes as Home News Nigeria puts
Josiah and Johnson embarked upon a speech acts analyses of these speeches and examined the speeches for face threatening and face saving acts. Oladimeji (2010) also explored the pragmatics of Umar Yardua’s inaugural speech (2007) using Lawal’s pragmatic theory in the analysis of his research data. Essential elements captured in his findings includes: intention, inference, presupposition, implicature and mutual contextual beliefs (MCBs). This paper explored the speech acts used by Muhammadu Buhari and the meta-functions as well as a pronominal reference analysis of Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural …show more content…
He became Nigeria’s Head of state from December 1983-August 1985. During this period, 500 politicians were imprisoned, critics of his administration such Fela Kuti were put behind bars and Sharia laws blossomed in the north at that time. Muhammadu Buhari after his retirement from the military contested severally and unsuccessfully for the position of Nigeria’s president. In 2003, he contested against Olusegun Obasanjo, 2007 Umar Yar’adua and 2011 Goodluck Jonathan. All three presidential candidates that defeated him emerged from the Peoples Democratic Party (P.D.P.). Unperturbed, by the failures of the past, Buhari under the party platform of the All Progressive Congress (an amalgamation of parties such as ACN, CPC, and APGA) strategised and won the 2015 election with the total number of 15,424,921 votes as Home News Nigeria puts