LANGUAGE AND THE CHALLENGES OF LIFE: A STUDY OF NYESOM EZENWO WIKE’S COVID-19 SPEECH

Abstract

Language is undoubtedly and instrument to elaborate a politician’s policy.  The policies and ideologies of countries are reflected in the propagated media of that country. CoVID-19 has adversely affected the lives of people all around the world. Consequently, leaders address their people regularly focusing mostly on effects and precautions of the disease. This paper therefore investigates the linguistic strategies in Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike’s Press Briefing on CoVID-19 of 1^st May, 2020. It focuses on language as a means of action and the underlying belief that communication is composed of linguistic acts.  The study used Searle’s (1979) classification of speech acts theory as the theoretical framework. The study reveals that Governor Nyesom Wike used speech acts of promising, guarantee, offers, refusals, threats volunteering and other linguistic strategies to build the confidence of Rivers State residents in Nigeria that he is capable of combating the CoVID-19 pandemic with their co-operation. It also noticed that these speech acts are not performed in isolation but typically in natural communication. This study is a tool of focus for scholars who are interested in political speech analysis. It recommends that Speech Acts as a device of language analysis should not be neglected in literary discourse.