"SPEECHLESS SPEECH"

After what seemed a century wait for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the country to address Nigerians on the situation at hand about how exactly the surging of peaceful protest particularly in southern Nigeria will be curbed, Mr. President delivered what a famous Kannywood star, Adama Zango called "speechless speech". I will briefly digest on the speech and the rhetoric of the phrase used by the celebrity. Enjoy.

First of all, addressing a nation in a chaotic state like this where hoodlums have hijacked a peaceful protest and the social media influencers and angry educated citizens are fueling the remorse course, it becomes not only important but exigent for something convincing to tame the hearts of the citizens.

The protest was divided into two: #EndSARS which is basically about the police brutality in Southern Nigeria and #SecureNorth, demands for proper security checkups and reforms for a better country. Both the aim of the protests is to remind the government of its duty to protect the lives of innocent and obedient citizens. Along the line, the former was hijacked and was turned to vandalism and barbarism, murder and extortion, not to mention of ethno-religious sentiments in disguise.

Angry politicians, attention seekers, social media warriors known as influencers, fake news, media houses have all played a vital role  to avail the acceleration of protest which metamorphose into deadly riot. Poor military intervention in Lagos was absolutely a sweet sour action, for it is undeniably grody and sinister to kill unarmed citizens. The government must not only take responsibility but bring those officers to book and compensate the deceased.

Buhari's speech doesn't really address the nation about the current situation and proper measures taken to ensure it stops, not to even  mention of his negligence and carelessness about northern youth who fought, sacrificed their money, time and lives to bring him to power in 2015. It is clear that he doesn't give a damn about the north and his promises on insecurity were just as empty as the speech presented. No single statement to northerners, not even condolences to the lives lost recently in Zamfara state.

Nigerians asked for speech and they have got it. 

Adam A. Zango, just like any other important figure in the movie industry may coin a word that can make it through the country's English mainstream. Nothing is wrong with the phrase as it can both be alliteration and personification at the same, trying to show how empty the speech is.

Farouq Kperogi wrote: Pierre Bourdieu has written brilliantly on this in his book titled Language and Symbolic Power. And because ‘standard’ usage norms often reflect the biases and arbitrary social conventions of the ruling intellectual, cultural, and political elites in any given epoch, the norms usually change in the course of time.

You can read more in my comment box on how elites and other important figures can change or contribute to language faster than you expected.