A Lexico-Semantics Analysis of Obasanjo’s Open Letter to Buhari

Abstract

This study examines a lexico-semantics analysis of Obasanjo’s Open Letter to Buhari (2019). It identifies the distinctive lexical resources deployed in the letter and explores the semantic strategies therein. It evaluates how Obasanjo’s linguistic choices in the letter reflect the broader socio-political concerns of Nigerians. As a qualitative study, it relies solely on library sources and employs insights from systemic functional linguistics by Michael Halliday (2014), Grice Theory of Implicature (1975) and Collocations for its theoretical orientation and focus.   Among other things, this study reveals that the letter is characterised by lexical sets related to insecurity, ethnicity, culture, politics and urgency, which form the ideational component of the letter. The letter features meaning relations such as synonymy, antonymy, (hypernymy, meronymy, metonymy, and polysemy. In addition, cohesive devices such as pronouns, conjunctions and connectives, transitional phrases and repetition highlight both the interpersonal and textual components of the letter. Importantly, the use of allusion and certain idiomatic expressions like (a stitch in time saves nine) and (put our house in order) gives the letter a literary hue. This study concludes that Obasanjo’s strategic linguistic choices reinforce the letter’s persuasive intent, highlighting critical national issues through a blend of formal and informal expressions. The deployment of lexico-semantic resources enhances the letter’s communicative effectiveness, making it a political critique and a rhetorical instrument aimed at urging immediate governmental action. Ultimately, the analysis underscores how language functions as a powerful tool for political engagement and societal transformation.