Discourse Analysis of Inaugural Addresses of Nigerian Leaders

The study examines the selected inaugural speeches of both military and democratic leaders in Nigeria. It identifies and analyzes instances of ellipsis, intertextuality and personal pronouns that occur in the inaugural addresses of General Babangida, Presidents Obasanjo and Tinubu. The speeches are analyzed based on tools from Gee's (2011) approach to Discourse Analysis. The study reveals that political leaders deploy language in different persuasive ways to influence the people within the multicultural and plurilingual context of Nigeria. The research findings have shown that Babangida, Obasanjo, and Tinubu have understanding of the necessity of good followership in governance and have strategically employed intertextuality, ellipsis and personal pronouns in their speeches to persuade and convince the people of Nigeria to support their administration. With the qualitative research approach used, the study has as well revealed that Nigerian military leaders have used language of threat and fear whereas the civilian leaders have utilized language of appeal and optimism to influence the Nigerian people. It has also been discovered through the various extracts analyzed that Babangida, Obasanjo, and Tinubu have used synonyms and antonyms as a rhetorical and persuasive tool to drive their political ideologies and resonate with the people.