“SUBSIDY IS GONE”: SPEECH ACTS AS POLICY INDICATORS IN PRESIDENT TINUBU’S EARLY PUBLIC SPEECHES

Abstract

Presidential speeches serve as strategic governance and policy communication instruments, shaping public perception and administrative priorities. This study investigates the speech acts in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s (PBAT) early public speeches (May–October 2023), focusing on their performative functions and policy implications. Data were sourced from approximately 4,695 words in his inaugural, Democracy Day, and Independence Day speeches, obtained from reputable news platforms and supplemented with policy documents, press releases, and media reports. These were subjected to speech act analysis, within a qualitative research design. Five categories of speech acts were identified: declaratives, directives, commissives, expressives, and assertives. Declaratives and assertives enforced policy shifts and set policy agendas, while directives steered policy implementations. Commissives functioned as strategic commitments that outlined the administration’s long-term vision and policy direction. Expressives sought to humanise the administration, showing empathy and fostering solidarity towards Nigerians amid economic hardships resulting from his administration’s reforms. While PBAT’s rhetoric projects a vision of economic revitalisation, security, and institutional reform, the effectiveness of these speech acts ultimately depends on their alignment with concrete policy actions and measurable outcomes. This study highlights the critical role of political discourse in shaping governance outcomes, emphasising that public trust and policy credibility are not sustained by rhetoric alone but by its alignment with tangible actions and measurable results.

Keywords: Speech acts, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Policy communication, Governance, Public speeches