A cognitive pragmatic interpretation of newspaper editorials

Abstract

Leadership is an essential component of every human society that guarantees the overall wellbeing of the citizens. In Africa, particularly in Nigeria, there have been several complaints of bad leadership which adversely affects the country and its citizens. Some of such complaints are expressed in newspapers‟ editorials. This study is a cognitive pragmatic reading of the Punch newspaper‟s editorial, “Buhari‟s Lawlessness: Our Stand” with two rejoinders from the Presidential spokespersons which were obtained from online versions of the Punch newspapers and Premium Times. The study draws from conceptual metaphor and appraisal theories to account for the conceptual mapping, evaluation and stance of the writers. The findings reveal the evocation of six conceptual metaphors, five of which were mapped by the editorial writer to index President Buhari‟s alleged repressive administration and the Nigerian citizens‟ plight: the administration as a predator, the administration as a bully, the administration as evil, Nigerian citizens as preys, and Nigerian citizens as victors. And one conceptual metaphor is mapped by the Presidential spokespersons: the administration as a friend of the press. These conceptual mappings were strengthened by appraisal resources of attitude and engagement that enabled the writers to dis/affiliatively position themselves in the discourse. The study concludes that a linguistic study of newspapers‟ editorials provides
insights into the understanding of national issues and the amelioration of leadership problem in Nigeria.