Pragma-Semantic Affordances of Pronouns as Tools for National Integration in Goodluck Jonathan’s My Transition Hours

Abstract

Extant literature on memoir writing reveals that scholars have examined how some past Nigerian leaders have used their memoirs to negotiate memory and identity in recounting their personal experiences in rising to the challenges of leadership in a politically divisive entity like Nigeria. However, existing studies using the tools of linguistics have not explored how former President Goodluck Jonathan deployed pronominal elements as communicative strategies to re/tell the Nigerian story at critical moments of the country’s national history, particularly from his vantage position as president of the country. Working within an eclectic paradigm to analyse select extracts from the memoir, this study examines the pragma-semantic affordances of pronominal elements as tools for consolidating peace and national integration. The study reveals that Goodluck Jonathan tactically uses the pronouns to indicate inclusiveness and exclusiveness in achieving the coveted national integration dream amidst attaining some other socio-political goals in the Nigerian project.