A pragmatics study of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s speech on his second year in office

This study examines President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second year anniversary message to the people of Nigeria through the context of pragmatic act framework. The study aims to uncover the underlying pragmatic acts, implicatures, and contextualization strategies employed in the speech. A qualitative approach is adopted, utilizing critical discourse analysis to examine the linguistic features and pragmatic functions of the speech. This study is anchored in Speech Act Theory as developed by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969), the study employs a qualitative descriptive design to identify, classify, and interpret the illocutionary forces and perlocutionary effects of speech acts in the address. The analysis demonstrates that the speech acts are not merely rhetorical but performative, shaping audience perception and reinforcing political legitimacy. The findings reveal that Tinubu’s speech contains a strategic blend of assertives (to affirm national unity and resilience), directives (to urge collective action), commissives (to pledge reforms and governance commitments), expressives (to convey gratitude and solidarity), and declaratives (to assert Nigeria’s democratic permanence). Moreover, it reveals that the President’s speech is characterized by assertive, directive, commissive, and expressive acts, which serve to convey a sense of progress and determination. This study provides insights into the pragmatic strategies employed by political leaders to shape public opinion and promote national unity. This study concludes that pragmatic strategies in Nigerian political discourse, as exemplified in President Tinubu’s second year anniversary’s speech, are vital in promoting cohesion, inspiring confidence, and projecting democratic ideals.