Maxims of First Presidential Speech of President Muhammadu Buhari on COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Political speeches are significant in the growth-phase and governance of any nation. With the outbreak and spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus across the globe, political speeches have served as major device for political leaders to curtail the pandemic. How the utterances in the speeches are fashioned in polite language to suit the needs of the citizens/audience and effectively achieve the president’s/speaker’s intentional goals necessitated the study. Anchored on Leech’s (1983) politeness maxims, the study examined the politeness strategies in the first presidential speech of President Muhammadu Buhari on Covid-19 pandemic. Content analysis method subsuming qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis and presentation was adopted to the analysis of sixty-five (65) expressions in the full text of the first presidential speech of President Muhammadu Buhari on Covid-19 pandemic. Findings revealed a preponderant employment of tact and generosity maxims. The two maxims account for 38% and 38% respectively of the total utterance population and are employed to portray acute sensitivity and confidence to the needs of the Nigerian citizens especially at the peak of the pandemic. The inclusive pronoun ‘we’ was also frequently employed in the context to exhibit sincerity, a sense of collective view, feelings, and shared responsibility. The study concluded that politeness strategies are crucial for political leaders in achieving effective communication and attaining their set objectives particularly in the midst of unrest.