Rhetoric among Prominent Politicians Excerpts from Yar’adua and Rimi’s Speeches

Abstract

This article attempts to investigate how politicians used their rhetoric to influence their audiences by examining the specific types of speech rhetoric. Though they employ various of rhetorical speeches when delivering their manifestos. It thus seeks to assess the effectiveness of Speech Act Theory as a framework for analysing the speeches of Alhaji Umar Musa Yar Adua and Alhaji Abubakar Rimi in order to gain a better understanding of their political purposes. The significant events, conflicts, and challenges that the Nigerian people face while their politicians are in office are thought to have a significant impact on the types of speech acts produced in their speeches to make their points clear. This article employs a linguistic taxonomy of rhetorical speech acts based on Aristotle's theory of rhetoric. It provides a method for categorizing speech acts in order to reveal the linguistic and political premise of two well-known politicians' speeches, which stand in for significant events in Nigerians' lives. The findings of the analysis show that socio-political events in the country have a significant impact on the types of speech acts delivered by these two politicians. This is also resulting in their speeches with varying goals of encouraging voters to cast their votes on them for them to win elections.