DISCOURSE AND PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES IN PRESIDENT TINUBU’S 2025 INDEPENCE DAY SPEECH ON NIGERIA’S 65TH ANNIVERSARY

Abstract

Independence Day speeches are a form of political discourse that symbolize a country’s sovereignty and national identity. While previous linguistic studies have explored various aspects of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s speeches, including rhetorical strategies, ideologies, and linguistic politeness, there is a gap in research on discourse and persuasive strategies in his Independence Day speech. Therefore, this study addresses this gap by examining President Tinubu’s 2025 Independence Day Speech, marking Nigeria’s 65th Anniversary, focusing on how discourse and persuasive strategies shape audience engagement and influence. Adopting Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), complemented by Teun van Dijk’s socio-cognitive theory and Ruth Wodak’s discourse-historical approach, this study descriptively analyzes the speech sourced from Premium Times’ website. The analysis reveals six dominant strategies: deontic/epistemic modality, inclusive language, deictic, metaphorical framing, evidentility, and constructive sequencing. These strategies collectively enhance the speech’s linguistic and persuasive power, enabling Tinubu to convey certainty, foster unity, bridge gaps between government and citizens, and frame challenges as collective opportunities for growth. The findings underscore the potency of rhetorical choices in political discourse, offering insights into the interplay of language, power, and ideology in shaping national narratives.