The language of politics and political behaviors; rhetoric of President Olusegun Obasanjo and the 2007 general elections in Nigeria

Abstract

Leadership succession in liberal democratic regimes is expected to take place under an electoral process that
can be adjudged as free and fair and where citizens exercise their inalienable right to elect leaders of their
choice. It can however correctly be inferred from President Olusegun Obasanjo’s rhetoric prior to the 2007
general elections in Nigeria that the option for citizens to determine who rules them was foreclosed as he was
determined to select his own successor. This is evidenced in the nature of the public statements and speeches
that he made and the thrust of which tended to be abusive, intimidating, authoritarian and threatening. The
President’s rhetoric naturally evoked responses from the informed public with grave implications for the nature
and conduct of the elections. The outcome of the elections has been adjudged by both National and
International observers as “deeply flawed” as the entire process was marked by irregularities and violence with
serious implications for the fledging democratic institutions and culture being built in Nigeria. The concern of
this paper is to examine the relationship between the rhetoric of the President, as documented in purposefully
selected Nigerian dailies, the reactions and counter rhetoric of leading political opposition leaders, institutions
and agencies that are involved in the electoral process and the nature of the conduct of the elections and
results.