A Pragmatic Study of Politeness Strategies in the Inaugural Speeches of Civilian Heads of Government in Nigeria

Abstract

The study is a pragmatic examination of the use of language by civilian heads of government in Nigeria. The study was informed by the need to understand the pragmatic strategies employed in crafting the presidential inaugural speech being the president’s first official speech. It is believed that the inaugural speech is a comprehensive piece of political communication that affords the speaker the opportunity to say so much in one fell swoop. The objective is to unravel the deployment of the politeness strategy in conveying the speaker’s intention. The study engages the politeness model proposed by Geoffrey Leech to interrogate the excerpts selected for the study. The study utilises data from the inaugural addresses of selected civilian heads of government. The study observes that political leaders in this category employ adverbial, adjectival and hedging as a pragmatic strategy for maintaining the self-esteem of the addressees. Nigeria’s civilian heads of government display generosity in praising the addressees while being modest in praising the speaker.