Language And National Development: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Obasanjo’s Letters To Jonathan And Buhari

Abstract

Communication remains vital to sustenance of relationships and human existence. In fact, the oil that lubricates human interactions. Despite this significance, communication is a double-edged sword which can be used either positively or negatively. Boulton (1978, p.41) attests to the negative social intent of language from the perspective of its potential or complexity. She also observes that “language is often used, not to communicate but to deceive. This is often true of political and religious propaganda…” This paper examines language and National Development taking excerpts from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letters “Before it is too late to Goodluck Jonathan” and “it’s time to step down from the Horse to President Mohammadu Buhari”. Working within the framework of Ruth Wodak’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis, the paper seeks to explore the workings of power in the Nigerian political transition from one government to the other and attempts to unravel the concealed meaning in the utterances under study. Findings show that Obasanjo took great advantage of his closed professional and military relationship with the two Nigerian Leaders nd probably because he had personal disagreements with them, used manipulative languages to achieve his agenda of mobilizing Nigerians against their second term bids in 2015 and 2019 respectively. The paper concludes that the Speaker who assumes the role of a National hero exhibits power and superiority over others, made use of some rhetorical devices and face threatening act (FTA) to convey his message to his audience but there is no national consensus by the elites on the best way to move the nation forward.