Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal http://www.rjelal.com; Email:editorrjelal@gmail.com Vol.4.Issue 1.2016 (January-March) 94 CHINWE R. EZEIFEKA THE RHETORIC OF TENTATIVENESS AND SUBJECTIVITY IN SELECTED NIGERIAN INAUGURAL POLITICAL SPEECHES CHINWE R. EZEIFEKA Department of English Language and Literature, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025, Awka, Nigeria chiezeifeka@gmail.com ABSTRACT This paper focuses on Nigerian political leadership as one of the indices of national transformation and appraises the rhetoric of tentativeness and subjectivity in selected inaugural political speeches of two Nigerian past leaders: Olusegun Obasanjo (1999) and Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979). Specifically, it focuses on the system of Modality, the grammar of the clause that expresses the speaker’s judgement and modal assessment. A total of 152 and 114 clauses were selected from the two speeches respectively on the grounds that they contain the targeted linguistic items. These were analyzed using Halliday’s systemic functional grammar (SFG) model and insights from critical discourse analysis (CDA). Our findings showed persistent use of high and median value modals that are implicitly and explicitly subjective and a few implicitly and explicitly objective ones, thus construing meanings in the region of modalized probability (for propositions), modulated obligation and inclination (for proposals), the latter having the tendency to divest the speakers of sole responsibility and commitment in the offer of goods-&-services. These grammatical choices foreground unverifiable, tentative personal convictions as the basis for authenticating propositions and proposals that border on national transformation but beg questions of implementation. The paper argues that this is a political rhetoric aimed at expressing subjectivities as fait accompli to ensure continued hegemony. These indeterminate and non-committal linguistic choices in the system of Modality are called up for scrutiny in the light of CDA quest for critical language awareness on the part of the electorate as well as the power elite. Keywords: rhetoric, Modality, systemic functional grammar, critical discourse analysis, political speeches, tentativeness, subjectivity ©KY PUBLICATIONS INTRODUCTION The theme of national transformation is pertinent at this period when our country Nigeria seems to be bedeviled by multiple ills of poverty, underdevelopment, famine, pestilence, draught, civil strife, terrorism, bad governance, inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence. It is also interesting to note that language and literature scholars have taken a bold step to use the resources at their disposal – words – to address issues of national transformation. One of such areas of national transformation which this paper attempts to RESEARCH ARTICLE CHINWE R. EZEIFEKA