KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Copyright© 2020 by authors; licensee KIJHUS. This article is an open access article and can be freely accessed and distributed. A LEXICO-PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL SPEECH OF NIGERIAN SPEAKER OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Akinkurolere, Susan Olajoke 1* 1 Kampala International University, Kampala, Uganda *corresponding author: akinkuroleresusan@gmail.com Citation: Akinkurolere, S.O. (2020). A lexico-pragmatic analysis of the inaugural speech of Nigerian speaker of house of representatives. KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(2), 143-159 ABSTRACT Studies abound on language and politics in Nigeria. Indeed, the nexus between the two central terms can never be overemphasized. It is noteworthy that although various studies abound on political speeches, the speeches of Nigerian Speakers of House of Representatives have not received much attention. Hence, this study intends to provide an elaborate analysis of the Inaugural speech of Nigerian Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011, Rt Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, through lexical cohesion theory, to demonstrate the inherent lexical choices as devices deployed to perform accentuation, which is primarily and traditionally, as a pragmatic function. The lexical choices made by the speaker demonstrated him as a politician who has employed the choices to achieve pragmatic functions to fulfil social functions. Keywords: Lexico-pragmatic analysis; politics; Nigeria; Lexical devices; Speech INTRODUCTION In Nigeria, there are three arms of government, Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. According to the legislative structure of Nigeria as guided by the 1999 Constitution as amended, the Legislature is powered to provide laws for the state-Nigeria. At Federal echelon, the legislature is divided into the Chambers (Upper and Lower Chambers). As such, the Upper Chamber is the Senate while the Lower Chamber refers to the House of Representatives. On legislature, Akinkurolere (2016) explained thus: The Legislative arm is important and significant as the arm saddled with the responsibility of making and amending laws. These laws are implemented by the Executive while the Judiciary interprets the laws for the country. The government rules through a set of laws made by the legislators as the representatives in their respective constituencies.