| Title: |
"Sorry" But Not Sorry: The Pragmatics of Nigerian Political Apologies |
| Author(s): |
Goodluck Chigbo NWODE, Uchenna Patrick AZUBUIKE, Nonye Carol OSUCHUKWU & Edith Ada ANYANWU |
| Abstract: |
While there is a sizeable body of research on the pragmatics of apology across the globe, the Nigerian apology discourse has received very little attention from scholars. The act of tendering public apologies among the political class, which was almost absent from the Nigerian repertoire, is an emerging trend in Nigeria. This study aims to identify the salient characteristics of Nigerian political apologies by contextually analysing some selected apology texts of some political actors in Nigeria. Findings reveal that Nigerian political leaders use evasions and manipulation in their apologies. The higher the magnitude of the transgression; the greater the hesitation to offer an explicit apology. We therefore, recommend that the categorization of political apologies should take into consideration the status of the political apologizer also and not just the magnitude of the offence, as this can have a significant impact on the apology behaviour. |
| Keywords: |
Apology, Political discourse, Politeness, Pragmatics, Public discourse
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EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
