Exploring manipulative rhetorical choices in Nigerian political speeches

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the rhetorical choices employed by politicians in the Nigerian political arena. In achieving their political aims, politicians are widely believed to possess a skilled knowledge of astute linguistic use. Thus, one can argue that politicians are presented with a deliberate selection of lexical choices which are coupled with their tactical use of language. Since political language is a social phenomenon, it is thus worth investigating how politicians manage to engage language in their favour. Through a purposive sampling strategy, the study analyses the rhetorical choices found in six Nigerian presidential speeches, with a specific focus on the lexico-semantic features of the speeches, and also the figurative expressions embedded in them. The study found that Nigerian politicians employ pronouns, modalities, hyperbole, repetition and the use of metaphor in their political communication. The study concludes that Nigerian politicians strategically use manipulative rhetoric in political discourse.

Keywords

• communication
• discourse
• politics
• language
• lexis
• rhetoric