85 Vol. 22 No. 1, April 2022, pp. 85-101 DOI: 10.24071/joll.v22i1.3530 Available at https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/JOLL/index This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. “All Politics is Local”: A Sociocognitive Investigation of Contexts as Indigenous Peculiarities in Gubernatorial Inaugurals Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje rmabayoje@gmail.com Department of English, University of Ibadan, NIGERIA Abstract Article information Devised by Tip O'Neill, "all politics is local" relates to the standard that -as a politician- a new governor’s communicative skill is directly connected to the shared understanding of the peculiar situations of a particular locality, by which views regarding the governor’s new regime are presented in an inaugural speech (IS). This angle of contexts in IS pictures the cognitive bridge of language and society; and has received scarce scholarly attention, particularly from the sociocognitive perspective. They are, therefore, explored in this article along with peculiar activities and events (as issues) in the inaugural speeches of three Nigerian Governors- relying on insights from van Dijk’s Context Models and Fauconnier and Turner’s Conceptual Blending. Six discursive contexts –categorised under common (labour, restoration, electoral process), and distinctive (divine support, tradition and value, morality) -situated six issues in the speeches, in terms of how Governors Rauf Aregbesola (RA) and Olagunsoye Oyinlola exploited Osun people’s religious inclination; in terms of the disposition of RA’s regime to the ideals of some previous administrations; and in terms of how Adebisi Akande rationalised participants’ behaviours. The article argues that described events and ongoing discourses in a new governor’s IS are the subjective mental representations that typify participants’ indigenous peculiarities, and constrain communicative meaning derivations. Keywords: contexts; sociocognitive approach; gubernatorial inaugurals; Tip O’Neill Received: 19 July 2021 Revised: 10 January 2022 Accepted: 18 January 2022 Introduction The gubernatorial inaugural speech is structured along with the past and ongoing local events or situations that a new governor talks about and makes use of as communicative skills to present opinions about an administration. The skills, which https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/JOLL/index Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 86 relate to the mundane and everyday situations of hearers (Gelman, 2019) are displayed through the shared knowledge of what they already know about the local events or situations of the locality of discourse participants. Subjective mental representations are thus formed from the knowledge of the events or situations (Hart, 2007) in order to implicitly or explicitly present intended views. In essence, the subjective mental representations in the episodic memory of discourse participants in a gubernatorial inaugural speech are informed by the described local events or situations that specifically characterise their locality: also, the representations form the discursive contexts of meaning derivation (Van Dijk, 1983; 1993), and comprehension of a gubernatorial inaugural speech. In this vein, the foregoing offers more than the lip-labour that Van Dijk (cited in Wodak, 2011) submitted is done to study the relations between text and context in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Present work is informed by his (2008) Sociocognitive approach to context in CDA, which is not unrelated to Wodak’s (2013) Historical perspective. In Van Dijk’s view, context is “the mentally represented structure of those properties of the social situation that are relevant for the production or comprehension of discourse” (Diallo, 2013;). He relates this perspective to the historical nature of discourse- an important perspective of CDA. This is a strong position held by Wodak (2013), who argues that discourse is socially structured and constitutive- hence related to a macro-topic. This topic is “connected synchronically and diachronically with other communicative events which are happening at the same time or which have happened before” (Wodak & Ludwig, 1999:21). Therefore, the relations between the Socio-cognitive and the Historical approaches of CDA lie at the point of mental operations of meaning negotiations which are performed by leveraging the shared (historical) background knowledge of the sociopolitical ground of discourse. This is the interest of this article- the quest to identify the discursive contexts, characterised by peculiar local representations as grounds of discourse in each of the speeches of the three purposively selected Nigerian governors: Adebisi Akande, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun state government, 2002; Adelegan, 2007; Osun.gov.ng, 2014). Extant works on various linguistic perspectives of inaugural speech (Taiwo, 2011; Ayeomoni & Akinkuolere, 2012; Odebunmi and Oni, 2012; Ezeifeka, 2014; Koussouhon & Dossoumou, 2015; Temidayo, 2015; Ogunmuyiwa, 2015; Sharndama, 2015; Edem, 2016; Emeka-Nwobia, 2015; Virginia & Issife, 2017; Edem, n.d.-b; Osisanwo, 2017; Medubi and Amuda, 2017; Akinwotu, 2018; Chen, 2018; Tarish, A. 2019) have been on the presidential type- focusing on its discursive features, socio-cultural issues, and pragma- stylistic implications; leaving the discursive contexts in the (Nigerian) gubernatorial inaugurals to be adequately explored sociocognitively in terms of the indigenous representations of participants’ locality in them. The inadequate representations of specific settings of discourse in the extant works- particularly the gubernatorial type, and the non-characterisation of the participants in them are of interest to this study. Answers are required to the query on how political actors- in terms of local political skills (Pierce, 2015), and geographical settings, are distinguished from one another. Theoretically, the impact of the societal and cognitive elements on meaning realisations in the speeches requires scholarly attention, because a conceptual account of the ideational function of language is necessary. Participants’ experience of reality, which is structured by a variety of construal operations (Croft and Cruse, 2004)- that is meaning realisations along activities within the mental structures of participants require explanations. In essence, the investigation of how meanings are negotiated between the local societal structure (social cognition) and the discourse structure (personal cognition) is necessary to adequately account for the lexico- grammatical choices in the speeches. Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 87 Methodology This study is based on descriptive design because of the quantitative analytical process adopted. It relied on the conceptual (sociocognitive) approaches of CDA (Dirven et al., 2012; Hart & Lukes, 2007) which is interested in the systematic exploration of often opaque relations of “causality and determination” (Fairclough, 2014) between discursive practice, event and text, and larger socio-cultural structures, relations and process in order to examine how the practices, events and texts develop. This, thus, suited this study and enabled the presentation of the findings derived from content analysis of the collected data. The data, which was derived from published texts (Osun state government, 2002; Adelegan, 2007; Osun.gov.ng, 2014), was chosen because they relate discursive behaviours of the governors and other discourse participants through observed contextual issues that reflect socio-cognitive elements of language use. Thus, they provide a good ground for studying the connection between contextual issues and peculiar local representations related in the IS. This aligns with (van Dijk, n.d.) view that in an inaugural speech, representations are established “when language users engage in the on-going construction of context as subjective, as well as group-sensitive, interpretation of social situation”. The inaugural speeches show that the governors relate representations of the social situation about other participants or the relations between them. A total of 5,744 clauses from the speeches of three purposively selected governors were analysed based on their relevance to the interest of the study. That is, only clauses that relate to the local situations and activities connected to Osun State, Nigeria were selected for analysis in order to provide sociocognitive explanations of the discursive contexts in the speeches. The Context Model of Dijk, (2012) informed the identification of linguistic structures in the speeches which, beyond deixis, are interpreted with reference to the context in order to realise discursive meanings properly. This provides the typology of contextual features like physical surroundings of the speech situation, participants’ common background knowledge, and medium of discourse, all of which are crucial in the realisation of discursive meanings. The cognitive realities involved in the speeches are explained based on the Fauconnier and Turner (2011) idea of online meaning constructions of expressions- conceptual blending theory (CB), which informed the conceptual operations carried out within the mental spaces (Hart, 2007) of the governors and other discourse participants. Results and Discussion Raised issues in the data form an important feature of discourse and characterise the discursive contexts in them. Explaining what the categories of established discursive issues relate in this work is to determine what can be known about the contexts (Song, 2010) that situate them in each of the selected speeches. This analytical task is the core in this study. It is fundamental in extant works also- like Chen’s (2018) explanation of the discursive grounds of the transmission, changing, and maintenance of social ideals and practices of the American citizens by President Donald Trump. Meaning representations are hinted through activities and events that form raised issues. These are vital to the descriptions of the locality of discourse and characterisations of participants. This importance is affirmed in related studies- for example in Ayeomoni and Akinkuolere’s (2012). The inaugural speech of a Nigerian President- Umar Musa Yar’Adua is explained as showing how a democratic administration placed a premium on the interest of the citizens in relation to good governance. The researchers contrast the government within certain issue- characterised contexts. This is in the same manner that the three selected governors in the present study present issues to characterise, hence contrasting administrations that have ruled in their state. This is like one of the findings in Osisanwo’s (2017) analysis of the inaugural speech of another Nigerian President- Muhammadu Buhari, that an inaugural speech is aimed at allaying “the anxiety of… [the people] and promot[ing] peaceful atmosphere”. This Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 88 submission is based on the investigation of the text and context relations in the analysed speech. Furthering the explanations on text and context adequately is appropriate when premium is placed on the exploration of the indigenous everyday experiences that are characterised in discourse participants’ episodic memory. This angle of analysis provides sufficient explanations of meaning derivation and discourse constructs. This perspective of context examination is important to show how the mental model of discourse participants controls many parts of the production and understanding of text and talk (van Dijk, 2008). It informs the explanations of the types of discursive contexts in the data and the raised issues that characterise each of them. Context types in the speeches Discursive context types in the data are characterised by all indigenous activities, events, and discourse participants that are functionally connected to the manifestation and qualities of a particular discourse, or issue raised in the inaugural speeches. They are discussed from the point of the processes of contextual orientations in society. In essence, the types of contexts in the speeches are explained within the immediate discourse properties as an influence on meanings and interpretations. They are categorised under common and distinctive types. The common contexts They are the general affordances of meaning (Odebunmi, 2017) that are commonly identified in the selected speeches and are functionally characterised by issues raised by the governors. Three contexts are identified under this category in the data- labour (characterised by regime contrast issue), restoration (characterised by participatory governance issue), and electoral process (characterised by regime change issue). Labour context (regime contrast issue) The context of labour is the discursive ground where the governors characterise themselves and other participants in relation to productivity and socio-economic impressions. The context is characterised by regime contrast issues which involve the comparison of previous administrations, regarding employment, industriousness, and the productive capacity of employable citizens of Osun State, Nigeria, and their socio- economic impacts. Under this context, the governors present socio-economic scenarios that are peculiar to the state. In this regard, the governors trigger a host of inferences and reasoning in hearers through the construction of mental representations, propositions, and assumptions relating to labour in the state. This is made possible through cognitively shared scenarios. This is evident in most of the initial part of Governor Adebisi Akande’s speech where, as illustrated in Example 1, he presents labour related activities and events in connection to Osun State, and Nigerian youths during the military regime that preceded his administration. (1) The children too have begun to inculcate the habit of seeking wealth without work by joining secret cults to constantly create circumstances of anarchy where armed robbery and 419 fraudsters have become the vogue. (Adebisi Akande) The contrastive meaning of the text is signaled by the lexical item “too” which relates agreement of the text above, or the commonness of its discourse to a preceding text. It is an anaphoric instrument by which Governor Akande ties back the mental models of his hearers to a similar issue, or local representations he had raised concerning the Osun, and by extension the Nigerian youths, and their disposition to hard work under the military regime. The new governor presents various shades of the negative effects of the military rule in contrast to what the people of Osun State should expect from his new democratic regime. Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 89 This ground of contrast in a particular class of the citizenry (the youths) suggests the commonly shared mental models, between the governor and his hearers, that the wealth and strength of a state is its youths- the important determining economic variable. Therefore, their characterisation in terms of how the policies of a regime affect their development is deliberately highlighted by the governor in the example above. Expressions like “the habit of seeking wealth without work”, and “joining secret cults”, and “create circumstances of anarchy” are past local events and social situations, which characterise the negative impacts of the military regime on the youths. Restoration context (participatory governance issue) Restoration context is the site of discourses indicating activities, or events of renewing damaged, degraded, or destroyed social systems or arrangements in Osun State through active government intervention and action. It is characterised by discourses relating how a governor tries to encourage the participation of the people of Osun State in activities of social intervention. A governor presents his administration as being responsive to the discursive ideas of re- establishment of former or normal social conditions. He deploys expressions that are meant to encourage his hearers to participate, in various roles and responsibilities, in the restoration of certain social order and social constructions. The discursive site of restoration is established between cognitive representations suggesting the effects of participation of the people of Osun State in certain social conditions and past and on-going activities presented by a governor. In the example below, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola tries to orient the people to a popular participation. The expression indicates participation; that is, what he said in terms of the involvement of the people of Osun State in the new administration’s efforts to “restore all yearnings”. (2) It is with gratitude to God Almighty and appreciation of the support of the good people of this State that I address you today on this auspicious occasion of the inauguration of our administration that will restore all the yearnings. Apparently, there is a great deal for which we must remain eternally grateful to the Almighty. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) Participation denotes the involvement of the people within certain levels of administrative practices of the new government of Oyinlola under civic responsibilities. Discursive issue –“restore all the yearnings”- in this regard is raised by Oyinlola and connected to the item “address”, indicating the people of Osun State are drawn into the activities aimed at the restoration of their yearnings. Cognitive factors are considered in this analysis as variables that relate to information on the state of affairs of the discourse- on what the governor said rather than the manner or style of expression. These factors are also situated within the shared social knowledge (SSK) of the people of Osun State as discourse participants. Example of a clearly expressed SSK is indicated in the earlier part of the text: “appreciation of the support of the good people of this State”, and “all yearnings”, which are potential referential inferences (PRI) that signal the effect of the participation of the people of Osun State within the discursive context of restoration under the Oyinlola administration. The relationship between the PRI; that is, the referent in the directly preceding discourse environment: “Appreciation of the support of the good people of this State” and the discourse marker of participatory governance issue and the corresponding context in the text: “the inauguration of our administration that will restore all the yearnings” signals the conceptual process that is triggered. The use of the inclusive pronoun “our” to describe Oyinlola’s new administration further accounts for the relationship between the PRI and the discourse marker that is driven by “address”. The inclusive pronoun in the above example of participatory governance issue in the data marks connection and shared views and feelings between Oyinlola and the people of Osun State. Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 90 Popular participation, as characterising restoration context, is presented in terms of how the governors classify and identify one peculiar experience with other experiences in a discourse. The classified and identified local experiences indicate issues that construe the engagement of the people of Osun State as crucial to the delivery of the objectives of the new administrations, which is to restore some past social systems that the people long for. A governor presents propositions that describe his administration and the people of Osun State as partners through such classification and description. Electoral process context (regime change issue) The electoral process context is the site for the meaning derivation and interpretation of peculiar political activities and other related discursive behaviours connected to the emergence of an individual as the winner in an election for a political office. This context is characterised by certain events and situations that are distinctively related to the people of Osun State, in terms of the process of the replacement of one administration or an administrative policy with another. The governors raise issues that have to do with how to, or the need to replace all or part of the leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy of Osun State. In a democratic setting, the electoral process context is clearly characterised by the ultimate activities and actions of participants at the polls when the electorate cast ballots for or against candidates of political parties. At this instance, the goal is to actualise a full replacement of the state’s leadership system and administrative apparatus. This electoral process characterisation is presented in the inaugural speeches of the Osun State governors in form of discourses that trigger hearers’ mental models connected to the regime change concerns, as in the example below, excerpted from the speech of Governor Rauf Aregbesola. (3) And so, today we celebrate our people who stood for democracy and liberty, who defied every form of provocation and intimidation to make a democratic statement by voting and make [sic] their votes count. They have shown that no gun or sabre rattling can stand in the way of a people who are determined to make a stand for liberty and democracy. (Rauf Aregbesola) The text clearly indicates a process of choice-making about leadership system in Osun State. Expressions like “make a democratic statement by voting and make their votes count”, and “make a stand for liberty and democracy” are indicators of the context (electoral process) of the issue (regime change), which Governor Aregbesola raises in the text. The issue being raised here is indicated by the description of local activities and behaviours of certain people in the state during the process of the election. Such expressions like “defied every form of provocation and intimidation”, and “they have shown that no gun or sabre rattling can stand in the way of a people” describe activities of Aregbesola’s political adversary against his supporters during the election periods. The supporters are represented as being larger than they really are by picturing them in the entire Osun state citizenry he addresses: “today we celebrate our people who stood for democracy and liberty”. This indicates how the issue of regime change also relates to the new identity of the new governor who, having emerged as the helmsman, tries to discountenance adversarial representation in the people whose welfare and security is being entrusted to him. In turn, the new governor presents activities of his adversaries in their quest to accomplish a regime change in Osun State. Structures like “provocation and intimidation”, and “gun or sabre rattling” form the peculiar representations of Aregbesola’s opponents. The meaning of this is derived through the cognitive negotiation between such discourse structures and the social structure of Osun State. At this juncture, personal and social cognitions are put into consideration, both of which include the goals and beliefs, emotions and evaluations, mental memory structure, and processes and representations in the regime change issue that Governor Aregbesola raises in the text. Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 91 The distinctive contexts Three contexts are variously distinctive to the governors. They are divine support, tradition and value, and morality. They are characterised by religious appeal, social change, and fairplay and justice. Context type in Adebisi Akande’s speeches The inaugural speech of Governor Adebisi Akande is identified with the preponderance of expressions that indicate the review, ascription or rationalisation of participants’ behaviours in discourses that are affected by the ground of right or wrong actions or situations peculiar to the Osun people. It is dissimilar to others speeches by the morality context which is characterised by discursive issues of fair-play and justice, and regime change. Morality context (fair-play and justice, and regime change issues) Morality context refers to the discursive site of judgment, and norms-infused- discourses and behaviours. This context is characterised by fair-play and justice, and regime change issues raised in the speeches which border on ethics and values. Specifically, this context involves political morality, requesting for the justification of why the people of Osun State should accept, support, or obey the initiatives or decisions of a particular regime. The context of morality is characterised by discourses that show that an individual carries out certain actions within established standard of just and honourable behaviour, decency, honesty and abidance by this standard. These signal how Governor Akande reviews, ascribes or rationalises participants’ behaviours within morality context. (4) The Federal Government has bleached the states of all sources of internally generated revenue. (Adebisi Akande) There is a conceptual pattern in the above text from which the context of morality is characterised. Specifically, the highlighted expression- “the Federal Government has bleached the states” is metaphorical. The understanding of the morality context depends on how the formal feature of the text above either intensifies or suppresses the (psychological, sociological, and textual) frames of the discourse. Hence, the meaning of the construction- “the Federal Government has bleached the states” largely depends on the context of the discourse which is characterised by fairness and just acts that are relevant to specific social situations affecting the people of Osun State; as in the expression follows the former- “all sources of internally generated revenue”. The major concern here is how the two constructions of the example- “the Federal Government has bleached the states” and “all sources of internally generated revenue” build a mental space of Governor Akande and the people of Osun State whom he addresses, and how it contributes to the social repository of their culturally available elements. Their mental space is constructed by all the physical local actions and reactions that the object or element connected with the lexical item- “bleach”, on one part, and the inferences of the lexical item- “revenue” on the other part. So the social repository of the participants is affected by the local social situations that warrant the presentation of the text as part of Governor Akande’s inaugural speech. From the foregoing, it is established that the ground of morality is constructed with the presentation of negative peculiar actions of some discourse participants which are at variance with established standard of just and honourable behaviour established in the social knowledge shared by the people of Osun State. This understanding and the discursive effects are derived at the emergent mental space of the hearers. The issue relating to the breach in the requirement or standard of fairness with respect to the distribution of Nigeria’s monthly allocation among the three tiers of government is connected to “the Federal Government”, and “the states”. Also, within the principle of right and wrong action, Adebisi Akande reviews the actions of some participants in his inaugural Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 92 speech and the effect of such actions on other participants. (5) It is unfortunate that the attempt by the Fulani to colonise the people of the Northern minorities, the Kanuris, and the Yorubas resulted in wars throughout the 19th Century. (Adebisi Akande) (6) The Federal Government has bleached the states of all sources for internally generated revenue; it throws, like crumbs, only 22% of the Federal Account to 36 states and over 700 local governments for sharing among themselves with a formula most favourable to land size rather than the needs of man within the population ratio and derivation from the land. (Adebisi Akande) The construction: “to colonise” and “has bleached” connect reviewed action of certain discourse participants whom the new governor describes as being indecent and dishonest. Although there are wide spatial differences between the periods of the reviewed actions and the inauguration day of Akande (a peculiar representation), these deictic expressions prompt, in the mental space of the people of Osun State, the positioning of the participants and their actions along the spatial axis, s. The negative impacts of the actions of the participants are located at the remote end of the spatial axis, while the objective of the review of the actions- “colonised” and “bleached” is located at the deictic centre of the discourse space. The implication is that Akande connects the present experience of his hearers, that is, his emergence as the new governor, with the reviewed actions of those who ruled the country in the past and shortly before Akande’s advent. In the context of the text, the review of the actions of the participants in Akande’s speech relates to spatial indexicality which has to do with discursive space between actions of the referent participants- “the Fulani” and “The Federal Government”, in the speech and other actions are dedicated in relation to Akande as the new governor of Osun State. From the abovementioned, the morality context, characterised fair-play and justice, and regime change issues, is therefore established under two categories: (i) propositions associated with the moral rights of the people of Osun State, and (ii) propositions associated with Akande’s moral responsibilities as the governor. The two propositions are discussed in turn. Propositions relating to the people’s rights as a category of morality context Under this category of morality context, Governor Akande presents his partisan identity as against that of his opponents’ or members of the outgroup by deploying statements or assertions that express a judgment or opinion about social or ethical principles of entitlement of citizens under a particular administration. This is illustrated in the following example below; and characterised by fair-play and justice, and regime change issues. First, the fair-play and justice issue is established; characterising morality context through expressions relating to the rights of the people. The new governor presents a judgment about how Osun people have been deprived of certain “entitlements”, and rights under past military regimes before his advent. This is observed from how the long term memory of his hearers is engaged as a tactic to premise this proposition of people’s right. The new governor contrasts socio-economic situations in the “old Western Region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo” with current positions of the states that were carved out or the old region, of which Osun State is one. The meaning that the people's right to basic infrastructure under the regime before his advent is derived from the statement: “The people have since lost their entitlements”, as in the text below. (7) In the process, the Yoruba nation, which began as numerous Kingdoms, each with her own monarchy before covering into one Nation in the Old Western Region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo, has been split into seven (whole) and three (fractional) states. And the people have since lost their entitlements. Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 93 Among these states of the Yoruba Nation is Osun State which was created in 1991 and which, up till today, has no capital city with developed physical infrastructure, no enviable government house, no definable government secretariat, no functional mass media communication system, no adequate rural feeder roads, no good road network nor drainage etc. (Adebisi Akande) Within the context of morality, the derivable meaning from the text is connected to the peculiar representation of Osun State as a clime. There is an indication of a contrast between two different regimes of the Obafemi Awolowo and the military era that came after Awolowo. The governor creates two distinct groups, relying on shared knowledge with his hearers. Akande presents his partisan identity within this context in terms of the commonly shared knowledge (CSK) of good governance, the “entitlement” of the people, which was experienced during the period of the “Old Western Region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo”. This is foregrounded in the proposition “And the people have since lost their entitlements”. Hence, the partisan group identity of Akande is constructed under the context of morality in terms of the proposition that relates to the moral rights of Osun people. Second, the propositions relating to the rights of the people as citizens (“adequate rural feeder roads, good drainage”) are also presented within regime change issue, and characterise the discursive context of morality. This is established at the cognitive level of meaning. The “entitlements” of the people, as in the text above, is connected to morality; that is judgment of standards behaviours and norms between governments and the people. In essence, the propositions relating these “entitlements” are processed at the conceptual blending level of discourse. The site of processing here is the morality context, characterised by regime change issue raised by the governor. Hence, the expression: “entitlement”, at the emergent structure of meaning processing, inherits structures from the input spaces which are constructed from peculiar representations of Osun State; that is, the SSK- as in: “Osun State…has no capital city with developed physical infrastructure”. The elements of the input spaces here are the lack of “enviable government house, definable government secretariat, functional mass media communication system, adequate rural feeder roads, good road network, drainage, etc.” in Osun State. They are the “entitlements” that “the people have since lost”. Therefore, the regime change issue characterises the morality context by how Akande chooses to recruit linguistic structures in the text in order to stimulate the perception of reality of the immoral deprivation of the Osun State people of their rights under previous regimes. Propositions relating to the speaker’s responsibility as a category of morality context This captures statements or assertions in the new governor’s speech that express a judgments or opinions about his status that morally deserves praise, blame, reward, or punishment for an act or omission, in accordance with his moral obligations as an administrator in Osun state. Under this category, morality context is characterised by fair-play and justice issue in terms of how Governor Akande expresses a judgment about his moral responsibility as a leader at the helm of affairs of the state. In the example below, he expresses a praise deserving opinion about his action as a governor. Following the footsteps of a former ruler in the old western Nigeria, the new governor sees the need to “inspire” Osun people “in a manner that” ignites and unleashes “their creative energy”. His partisan characterisation is constructed along the Awolowo political ideological group under the former’s moral responsibility as the new Osun governor. (8) The visionary purposeful leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo once inspired our people in a manner that ignited and unleashed their creative energy. Today, we are gathered here to resume the journey that our people began with Obafemi Awolowo. (Adebisi Akande) His partisan identity is constructed within commonly shared knowledge (CSK) of Awolowo political ideology of good governance. This is foregrounded in the Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 94 expression “we are gathered here to resume the journey that our people began with Obafemi Awolowo”. In the same sense, his judgment about his status of morally deserving praise as the new Osun governor is also presented in the same expression. However, at the heart of the proposition about his moral responsibility as the new Osun governor is the expression: “the journey”, which metaphorically represents “purposeful visionary leadership” as used in earlier part of the text. Leadership in the context of moral responsibility of the governor is the action of encouraging Osun people to achieve social and economic development through viable government policies and programmes. This kind of leadership is metaphorically described by the governor within the link between the literal source domain- “visionary purposeful leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo once inspired our people” and the metaphoric target domain- “we are gathered here to resume the journey…”; where specifically “purposeful leadership”- the source, is mapped to “the journey”- the target domain. The potency of the metaphorical representation of the proposition that presents Aregbesola’s political identity contrast under context of morality is derived from the ontological associations that are induced in the minds of his hearers. The connections between entities of source domain (SD) and target domain (TD) are grounded in the everyday experience and knowledge shared by the governor and his hearer. The text takes the form of metaphor scenarios, which consist of mini-narratives (somebody once inspired a people to a particular social action) based on source domain input and include participants, their intentions, course of action, and the explicit message. The metaphorical sense of the expression is evaluative. The intention is to convey an attitude or mood. Specifically, the derived meaning suggests the governor’s intention that is aimed to convey his partisan identity within the argument of his moral responsibility as a governor. The evaluative power of the deployment of the metaphoric expression is observed where the new governor carried over the way he evaluated the entities in the source domain; that is, Awolowo’s moral responsibility as head of government of the old Western Nigeria. Specifically, the metaphoric expression: “we are gathered here to resume the journey that our people began with Obafemi Awolowo”, conveys Akande’s attitude. He passes on a judgment through the framing chosen in the carrying over of the entities in the source domain, “visionary purposeful leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo” to the target domain, “the journey” Context type in Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s speeches Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s inaugural speeches are typical of discourses relating to God’s connection to government, administrative, and other discursive behaviours. The site of these discourses builds from the religious inclination of the people of Osun state (peculiar representation) and the exploitation of this by him to present his arguments. The context in his speech is divine context, characterised by religious appeal and regime contrast issues. Divine support context (religious appeal and regime contrast issues) Divine support context refers to all affordances of meaning that basically relate to the likelihood of God’s backing in in certain activities and situations. All moral sensibilities that make up political discourse are specifications of broad collective habits which form the basis for social life. Among the collective habits are the ones that are established within intimate but complex relationship between politics and religion, that is divine support. Such habits relate to religious beliefs that are expressed or indicated in the inaugural speech of Governor Oyinlola. The use of religious appeal discourses as characterising the divine context is not quite common and shows implicit and explicit attitudes of discourse participants. These are illustrated in the examples below. (9) I affirm total submission to God. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 95 The speaker- “I” is connected to the discursive behaviour “affirm”, which indicates Governor Oyinlola’s commitment to certain ideal. The commitment is directed at the religious representation- “God” which is the shared or common social orientation of the people of Osun State, and the nucleus of the context of the discourse, that is divine context. Divine context is the ground from which meaning affordances that relate to religious issue in his speech are identified. Divinity presupposes religion, particularly with respect to the performance of a governor and his administrations. Highlighted constructions in the example below are deployed to integrate Osun State as indicating human society, which is composed of individuals and social groups with diverse interests and aspirations. (10) Pessimists would say the heavens would fall or that there would be brimstone and fire. But we, who believe in God hold fast to Him in prayers and supplication and God in His finite mercies has brought us happily to this destination. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) In the global sense, this representation of divinity is considered as sociocultural act that shows that religious bond transcends personal and divisive forces. Also importantly, this sociocultural act in the divine support context is aimed at legitimising the advent of a new regime as well as to exhibit an existing social order in ‘a new’ Osun State under the new governor. Generally, Governor Oyinlola contextualises the past experiences and anticipated participations within the divine support context to achieve three major goals, including: (i) to restrain or criticise the conduct of his predecessors: (11) Pessimists would say the heavens would fall or that there would be brimstone and fire. But we, who believe in God hold fast to Him in prayers and supplication and God in His finite mercies has brought us happily to this destination. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) (ii) to encourage political participation of Osun people: (12) I hereby affirm in total submission to God, service to my people… and their support in that sense. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) (iii) to promote democratic values and norm: (13) After the turbulence, occasioned by the last electioneering campaign, the battle has been lost and won. We are here together by God’s grace as brothers and sisters in one love family, the large and extended family of Osun State. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) Pragmatically, perceptual and interpretive characters of the events in the examples in relation to divine support context are conceived of in terms of figure-ground relationship, where events, for example, “We are here together”, are the figures while the invoked context (divine support context), marked by: “by God’s grace”, is the ground. This approach underlines the interest of interpretation of the events in his speech beyond structure and content of context, but rather the ways they are used, invoked, inferred or presupposed. The relationship between the religious appeal issue and the divine context are germane to the referential meaning of the texts. This relationship is reflected in the structure of the expressions in terms of the index entities. Religious attachments are developed early in the lives of human being, hence are subject to a lifetime of socialisation of the people of Osun State. The influence of divine support context on text, as characterised by the religious appeal issue, is conveyed by how the governor describes and explicitly categorises the participants within the religious discourses. Some co-textual features are observed as establishing word-based cohesion within the context of divine support, and its religious appeal discourse characterisation. In this Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 96 sense, anaphoric and cataphoric pro-forms play decisive role in the emergent meaning of the text. (14) Pessimists would say the heavens would fall or that there would be brimstone and fire. But we, who believe in God hold fast to Him in prayers and supplication and God in His finite mercies has brought us happily to this destination. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) Governor Oyinlola co-textually embeds some orientations to the electioneering experience that precedes his emergence as the new governor of Osun State, so that the text- “Pessimists would say the heavens would fall or that there would be brimstone and fire” situates in the religious discourse that follows it, by which the context of divine support is invoked: “we, who believe in God hold fast to Him in prayers and supplication and God in His finite mercies has brought us happily to this destination”. The former text is a super- ordinated co-text which informs the organisation and interpretation of the latter. That is, the understanding and interpretation of ‘why and how heavens did not fall’ is embedded in the super-ordinated text. The deployment of the conjunction “but” also emphasises the relationship of adjacency on the same categorised level of text structure. The deployment is an indication of actions or instance of two focal events occurring at the same point in time or space. Oyinlola uses “but” in the text to introduce a contrasting activity of a group he belongs against that of others. It is a move within the micro context of divine support, and structured on the co-text index of macro context. In the same vein, the meanings of the faith-connected expressions or constructions are dependent on the divine context related knowledge that the governor and his hearers share. They show the effect of prior shared knowledge on the understanding and retention of emergent information in Oyinlola’s text, as illustrated in the example below. (15) It is with gratitude to God Almighty and appreciation of the support of the good people of this state that I address you on this auspicious occasion of our administration. Apparently, there is a great deal for which we must be grateful to the Almighty. (Olagunsoye Oyinlola) Background knowledge indication derives from cognitive model of critical discourse analysis. From the example, Governor Oyinlola’s hearers, more rapidly, grasp new information in the discourse, regarding the events, activities, and the participants that are related, and from which they are given prior knowledge. The divine support context is indexed by the highlighted expression in the text. It, at the same time, relates certain activities and events in the past, which the governor provides new information about. They, thus, characterise the divine context that the speaker is invoking. The religious appeal issue is presented in the opening of the text and comprises certain prior knowledge shared by the governor and the people of Osun whom he addresses. That is why he connects two actions- “gratitude to God” and “appreciation of the support of the good people”, in the religious appeal he presents to carry out a single discursive act of arousing faith sentiment. This shows how prior knowledge directly impacts cognitive process for understanding or retaining new information in a discourse. The prior knowledge in this discourse is pertaining to the religious inclination of the people of Osun State which is clear to both Governor Oyinlola and the people of Osun State. The prior knowledge which can be declarative (episodic, semantic), or non- declarative (procedural, implicit) is the behavioural evidence of the activities of Governor Oyinlola and the people of Osun in the particular religious discourse that characterises the divine context. Specifically, the adverb “apparently” as deployed in the opening of the expression, which indicates the divine support context of the discourse, shows that the new information that Governor Oyinlola gives to his hearers derives from something that the people have heard, or have prior knowledge about. However, they are Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 97 being influenced to infer new meaning from the particular background knowledge. Therefore, it is used in their cognition to process, and to derive the new information or knowledge that the new governor is trying to present. This is situated in the expression- “there is a great deal for which we must be grateful to the Almighty”. Contexts types in Rauf Aregbesola’s speeches The predisposition of Governor Aregbesola’s addressees to faith is leveraged to present arguments under various topics in the text. This is observed in the deployment of religious or faith discourses (religious appeal issue) that characterise heavenly or godlike connections (divine support context) with discursive behaviours, events, or activities related by the new governor in his speech. Also, his disposition, or that of his regime to the social standards associated with some individuals or previous administrations (tradition and values context) are characterised by discourses that indicate striking differences between his regime and other ones (regime contrast issue). These are analysed in turn below. Divine support (religious appeal issue, regime contrast issue) Divine support context is the site for meaning affordances that suggest instances of a virtue coming from God, or a state of sanctification that Governor Rauf Aregbesola enjoys through godlike assistance. It situates an issue that is pertinent to or is in accordance with faith principles, being scrupulous, conscientious, or exact. The meaning of religious appeal issue raised by the new governor is open and not deniable because it is informed by the common religious ideal that is practiced by the people of Osun State. As an example, the governor shows how his eventual emergence as the new helmsman of the state was beyond mundane mean. (16) Ladies and gentlemen, let me, at this point, recognise that it is God that has allowed us to come this far. We give Him all the glory and adoration. He deployed men and women of courage, grace and honour in the judiciary to restore the mandate of the people. (Rauf Aregbesola) Two expressions explicitly indicate religious appeal in the example- “it is God that has allowed us to come this far” and “He deployed men and women of courage, grace and honour in the judiciary to restore the mandate of the people”. These show the degree of religious attachments of the people of Osun State and how Aregbesola exploits it. Religious attachment are often formed early in life of an individual and are subject to a lifetime of socialisation. “To restore the mandate of the people” relates regime change between Aregbesola era and the administration that preceded it. “Recognise” as in the text relates the inner world of experience of the participants in the discourse, including Aregbesola and the people of Osun State, which have a form of representation that is realised in the issues raised. The inner world of experience of these participants is represented as reaction and reflection. The site of realisation, “recognise”, involves the governor, and the inner world of experience here are the post-election incidents in Osun State. After the April 14, 2007 governorship election, supporters of the presumed winner of the governorship election, Rauf Aregbesola, believed that the election was rigged in favour of Olagunsoye Oyinlola, hence staged protests across the state. The matter was taken to the gubernatorial electoral tribunal for three and half years before it was resolved in favour of Aregbesola. The representation of this inner world of experience is thus realised in the expression “recognise”, which, within the context of use depicts ‘to express’, with the governor being responsible for the action. This is realised through the conjunction “that”, which precedes the religious appeal marker- “that it is God”. From the foregoing, the characterisation of divine support context by religious appeal issue shows how Governor Aregbesola invokes state of experience that is related to a supernatural power or deity, such as God, the Supreme Being, and creator deity and is therefore regarded as sacred and holy. The Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 98 governors present close connections between their political and other social experiences and religion within a broader context of sociocultural system of Osun State. This is observed from how they reflect certain experiences that show religious politicisation. The effect of such sociocultural act performed by them is functional in the sense that it helps the integrative performance of their new administration, whereby peaceful cooperation and love of the Osun people for their individual government is promoted through such invocation. The establishment of divine support context in the speech is encouraged by and represents the social life elements of the people of Osun State. The following text exemplifies such social life induced invocation of divine support which the governor deploys to establish and maintain his reigns. (17) We stand here today to celebrate the goodness of God and the unprecedented spirit of the people of Osun state. God, and GOD ALONE is omnipotent. At His instance, tyranny crumbles; man’s pretense to omnipotence is shattered. In recent years, it has been the fad for the purveyors of power in Osun state and in Nigeria to forget that, ultimately, power belongs to God. (Rauf Aregbesola) The example above shows the divide between private and public faith, with the former being often presented in Aregbesola’s speech. This indicates the thin line that exists between politics and faith or religion. Expressions like “we celebrate the goodness of God”, “God alone is omnipotent”, and “ultimately, power belongs to God” are all situated on the ground of divine support, and the invocation of religion in political activities. It suggests politicisation of faith, and the influence of religion on the lives of the people of Osun State. Put more specifically, the divine support context is characterised by six sub- issues of religious appeal, which are: coexistence, religious participation, emotional sentiment, social identity, legitimisation, and partnership. Governor Aregbesola’s religious expression- “we stand here today to celebrate the goodness of God” indicates that there is no separation between the people of Osun State with respect to faith in political context. This is, particularly marked by the pronoun “we” which constructs world of unity and coexistence in the interest of a political instance devoid of differences of faith among the people. The expression- “God alone is omnipotent” indicates the culture of faith participation in politics. The fact that faith politically influences the emotion of people in politics is indicated in the expression- “at His instance, tyranny crumbles; man’s pretence to omnipotence is shattered.” Also, the social identity of Aregbesola’s hearers is constructed by the expression- “we stand here today to celebrate the goodness of God”. It is an indication that Osun people are inclined to religion, and they flag this during political activities. This is evident in the manner that the new governor tries to show divine approval of his emergence as the new helmsman. Tradition and value (social change, and regime contrast issues) Tradition and value context is characterised by discourses of social change and regime contrast which relate to how social beliefs and the behaviours of the people of Osun State, or their judgement of what is essential in life are passed down within the Osun communities. These beliefs, behaviours and social judgement carry special representational meanings and are significant with origin in the past. This context, as characterised by the social change and regime change issues, is illustrated under personal and moral factors observed in Aregbesola’s speech. The personal factors of social change issue which characterises the tradition and value context are observed within expressions about social values, behaviours and beliefs endorsed by Aregbesola or an individual. (18) Chief Bisi Akande’s performance in four years exceeded the combined records of all other governors who have ruled Osun State. Also, I had the privilege of serving as a commissioner in Lagos State under Governor Bola Tinubu who raised the internally generated revenues from 600 million naira per month in 1999 to 8.5 Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 1 – April 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 99 billion Naira per month in 2007. In other words, the absence of oil resources cannot and should not be used as an excuse for failing to embark on projects that will uplift our people… (Rauf Aregbesola) The social change issue is marked by the expression- “failing to embark on projects that will uplift our people”, and the regime contrast issue is indicated by the expression- “Chief Bisi Akande’s performance in four years exceeded the combined records of all other governors who have ruled Osun State”. They are both situated within the discursive site of Aregbesola’s personal endorsement of the value of good, and effective leadership, as indicated in effect of “Chief Bisi Akande’s performance in four years” on the people of Osun State, and how “Governor Bola Tinubu… raised the internally generated revenues” of Lagos State. In the same vein, the social change and regime contrast issues characterise the tradition and value context of meaning through expressions that indicate moral standards behaviour of the governor or a discourse participant, as in the example below. (19) In the past four years, we have striven to keep faith with the people on the mandate given to us. We set out to re- enact the Obafemi Awolowo tradition of leadership of good governance; a tradition that sets the Western region apart. The formidable challenge notwithstanding, we have delivered largely on our promises. (Rauf Aregbesola) Social change in this study is about the positive and significant alteration that a regime caused in the behavioural patterns of the people, resulting in marked social consequences. The social change issue raised by the governor in example 41 above is related in the expressions- “re-enact the Obafemi Awolowo tradition of leadership of good governance”, and “we have delivered largely”. Regime contrast issue is a discourse of differences between two or more regimes or their representations. This is marked in the example above by the expression- “the Obafemi Awolowo tradition of leadership of good governance… sets the western region apart”. Both of these issues (social change and regime contrast) are raised by Governor Aregbesola within the moral factor of the context of tradition and value, which establishes a morally right or wrong behaviour in a discourse. This is specifically marked by the expression- “we have striven to keep faith with the people on the mandate given to us”. Conclusion Thus far, this article has provided sociocognitive explanations of how discursive contexts- characterised by events, activities and indigenous social situations of a particular clime- determine the inherent and/or derived meanings in gubernatorial inaugural speeches. It argues that contexts relate to discourse participants’ locality, thus crucial to the understanding and realisation of the issues raised, and the derived meanings. It has thus described the state of the real world that characterises a particular locality- a crucial realisation of meanings from various affordances within the cognitive models of discourse participants. Considering the scope of the analytical data of the study- on the basis of documentation and the duration of the regimes of the governors (1999-2018), the study is limited to representations (discursive contexts) that relate the social structures and characterisations of a locality within the Western region of Nigeria, and its civilian rulers within certain periods. Indigenous representations as characterising contexts in gubernatorial inaugurals, and other political texts could be further researched by exploring the recurrence of stylistic features- like syntactical patterns and rhetorical figures- that foreground the nature and quality of the local representations that characterise discourse participants and their locality. Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje 100 References Adelegan, F., 2007. From the treasures of the heart: Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Osogbo: Kingsmann Publishers. Alaba Akinwotu, S. (2018). Language and Style in Political Inaugurals: A Study of Inaugural Speeches of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Nigeria. British Journal of English Linguistics, 6(5), 1–15. https://www.researchgate.net/publicati on/344675380. Ayeomoni, O. M., & Akinkuolere, O. S. (2012). A pragmatic analysis of victory and inaugural speeches of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. 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