Re-Appraisal of the Linguistic Manipulations of C. K. Nzeogwu’s Coup Speech: Discourse as Text

Abstract

This research discussed the various discourse strategies employed by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu in the coup text of 15th January 1966, in Nigeria. The researchers used the first component in Fairclough’s three-dimensional conception of discourse, the text, to drive the research. The central focus of this research was to review Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu’s coup speech meant to usher in the military into political power in 1966. The study revealed Nzeogwu’s deliberate employment of appropriate discourse modes, lexical items, and grammatical structures to illuminate salient aspects of the Nigerian socio-political crisis, which informed his ideology of change. The problem of the Nigerian autocratic democracy, subservient followership by citizens and the supremacy of the military elites, manifest through Nzeogwu’s linguistic manipulations, as revealed by the text analysis done in this research. There were notable nuances of military discourse which shows the speaker’s intention and exploitation of interpretation. Hence, the research x-rays the language of authority and legitimacy used by the military to sway their subjects to their side. Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis model and methods of text analysis are used to bring out the hegemonic ideological practices in military discourse especially in Nigeria.