DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF DEMOCRACY: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU’S JUNE 12, 2025 DEMOCRACY DAY SPEECH

Abstract

This paper critically examines President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2025
Democracy Day speech through the lens of Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA), with the objective of uncovering the linguistic
strategies employed to construct political legitimacy, promote
national unity, and frame economic reforms. It also aims to explore
how the speech manipulates historical memory and rhetorical devices
to mask underlying socio-political contradictions. The central
problem addressed is the gap between political rhetoric and the lived
experiences of citizens in a context marked by inequality, contested
democracy, and socio-economic hardship. Drawing on Norman
Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of CDA textual analysis,
discursive practice, and socio-cultural context the analysis reveals a
complex interplay between inclusive language, historical
intertextuality, euphemistic expressions, and reformist lexical fields.
Key findings show that the speech deploys inclusive pronouns like
“we” and “our” to create a false sense of national cohesion, while
references to democratic icons such as MKO Abiola are used to
legitimise the current administration by linking it to Nigeria’s
democratic past. Euphemistic language downplays the negative
impacts of controversial policies like fuel subsidy removal, while
reformist vocabulary constructs a visionary leadership persona. These
discursive strategies obscure social exclusion, suppress dissent, and
reinforce dominant power structures. The paper concludes that 

Tinubu’s speech exemplifies how political discourse in Nigeria
functions as an instrument of ideological control. It calls for increased
critical engagement with political texts to foster accountability,
transparency, and a more participatory democratic culture