Evaluative Language in Nigerian Political Speeches: An Appraisal Analysis of John Kayode Fayemi Inauguration Speech as Ekiti State Governor in 2018

Abstract

Fayose in a controversial election regarded to be crooked by some elites but adjudged to be free and fair by the majority and the international organisation. Fayemi contested the election in 2018 and won the mandate he was denied in 2014. Hence, he tagged his inauguration speech “Reclaiming the Land of Honour”. The appraisal analysis of this speech will reveal the attitude of Fayemi to the political circumstances that led to his defeat in 2014 and his victory again in 2018 as well as his response to the administrative style of Fayose who for four years would always make the headlines of newspapers for his stunt criticism of the president (Muhammadu Buhari) and Federal government. Abstract: Political speech is a kind of speech that always carries the emotion of the speaker as well as reflecting the socio-political context of the speaker. This paper is an attempt of linguistic appraisal analysis of political speech in Nigeria. The study aims to provide an exploration of the attitudinal choices and meaning in the inauguration speech of Dr. John Kayode Fayemi on October, 2018 as governor of Ekiti state in Nigeria. The theoretical framework employed for the analysis in the study is the appraisal theory of Martin and White (2005) which is an extension and elaboration on the interpersonal Metafunction of Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The study finds out that the speech is however, full of both invoked and inscribed attitudinal meanings that reflect the speaker’s position on and reaction to the economic and socio-political situation of the state as well as the experience of the citizens in the past four years. Attitude in the speech are deployed in the construal of three main semantic domains, of affect, judgment, and appreciation, The study concludes that Attitude (Affect, Judgment and Appreciation) in the speech is an effective strategy by the speaker for evaluating the socio-economic reality of Ekiti state and the performance of previous government; positioning his audience ( Ekiti people) and for negotiating solidarity with them by making them to share his feelings as well as appreciating the human capital resources of the state.