Pragmatic Analysis of Selected Speeches of Some Governors on Workers’ Day Celebration in Nigeria

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Background to the Study
Language is one of the important tools of communication.Humans need language to express ideas, experiences, emotions, and feelings, and mostly to interact effectively.Language is a mark of distinction from other creatures.It is the principal and basic medium humans use to communicate in every sphere of life."A language is a powerful tool for everyday communication" (Basiru, 2015, p.2).This explains that language is an instrument that serves numerous purposes to humanity.According to Levinson in Falkum (2018), "although human languages are different in form across cultures, they are in common as they are grounded in universal properties of human interaction" (p.270).This claim postulates that there are different areas culture contributes to human differences but the use of language remains important as it helps man to relate and communicate.In language use, the speaker should be able to have a good command of linguistic knowledge to drive his messages home for a clearer understanding to the audience.The linguistic knowledge implies that the vocabulary and the rules of grammar should be well incorporated to enhance communication.Political speeches by a governor are instances where rules of grammar and vocabulary are linguistically analysed.
The governor is a public official with the power to control a certain level of governance.Mostly, in the Federal system of government, the governor is referred to as a political leader who governs a constituent state and he might be appointed or elected.Nigeria in particular has governors in all the states who are popularly elected by the citizens.The governor is the head of state as well as the head of government for a particular state.He also plays an active role in the administration.The governors seem to be closer to the grassroots and that is the reason the citizens can interact and benefit more from their governance.Governors' speeches can be seen as speeches of the political leaders made on special occasions which are used to direct, rule, administer, control, and initiate ideas.These speeches are communicated in language.Since the interpretation of speech cannot be made only by decoding the linguistic elements rather but also by how the speech is produced, it shows that the political leaders can use their utterances to influence the led.The speeches of the governors are very relevant to the people especially during the Workers' Day celebration.
Workers' Day is otherwise called Labors' Day or May Day.This day according to history came up as a result of the struggles by the workers for better living conditions in 1889 by the International Workers' Congress in Paris.First May is a day celebrated by workers annually.It is one of the remarkable days for a holiday in every calendar year.The People's Redemption Party (PRP) was the government in power in Kano State and it became the first to declare May Day in Nigeria in 1980.But, it became a national event on May 1, 1981.According to Chris Ngige, the labor minister "This day is very important to the struggles of workers and trade unions as it helps to win fair employment standards and to establish a culture of human and workers' rights", (Labor Minister Report,2017).This indicates that this day is meant to look out on how to improve the standard of workers in Nigeria and all over the world.Since workers contribute to national development, then it calls for the proper attention of the government on improving their working conditions, promoting their social-economic well-being and, most importantly, caring for their total welfare.Hence, providing a good working environment and protecting their interest should enhance their commitment to service.
Pragmatics is a linguistic field of study which is concerned with how context contributes to meaning.Pragmatics studies the actual meaning a speaker conveys when he makes utterances.Pragmatics does not look out for the meaning from the structure of the language use and the effective linguistic knowledge of the speaker and listener.Pragmatic study is interested in the context of the utterance, any pre-existing knowledge about those involved in inferred intent of the speaker, and others.It stands on the notion that there is an underlying context when a word is uttered.This indicates that pragmatics explains how language users can overcome apparent ambiguity, which could be found as a result that meaning relies often on the manner, place, time, and other factors provided in the utterance.According to Yule (2010), pragmatics is "the study of what speakers mean" (p.127).In this case, pragmatics revolves around the speaker's utterance and the proper use of language."Pragmatics is interested in the process of producing language and in its producers, not just in the end-product, language" (Mey,p.5).Suffice it to say in this context that the meaning of the utterance of a speaker is the pivot of pragmatics, not necessarily what the language is.Inasmuch as the language use of the speaker is fluent and understandable, communication is achieved.Having a good understanding of pragmatics is important for using correct grammar and appropriate levels of formality.Also, the common goal of the pragmatists is to create an understanding on the differences between literal meaning and what the speaker uses words to mean, then, to identify some principles or norms of language use which might explain these differences that occur in various communication situations.Pragmatics is applied when the message or intended meaning of communication is determined.However, the message conveyed by any language user is the hub; therefore, if the message is not transmitted well the communication process is distorted.
Pragmatics can also refer to the language user's skill in connecting and aligning sentences with the context to ensure they are appropriate and effective.Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conventional implicature, talk in interaction, and other approaches to language behavior in Philosophy, Sociology, and Linguistics.In this respect, Black (2006) stated that" speech act involves every communicative situation and paralinguistic feature which may contribute to the meaning of the discourse.These include; the context of the discourse, the participants and both the verbal and physical elements involved in the interaction" (p.17).Speech act does not refer to the act of speaking but implies that every expression of language must be viewed as an act.
"Pragmatics is the study of meaning to speech situations' (Leech in Vu, 2017, p.22).This implies that the situation in which the speech is made helps to convey the actual communication intended by the speaker and it shows that the situation the speaker engages in interaction is very important.Pragmatics expresses meaning between the speaker and the hearer in a given context; therefore, the speaker, the hearer, and the context are concerned with the meaning of speeches or utterances.It tells us what the speaker does with language and how he uses language to change the way things are done or to maintain a status quo.It entails that the speaker can bring about changes depending on how he uses language.This is the reason this study attempts to look at these governors' speeches to examine their effects on the workers.
There are several works on political discourse but these works are not based on the speeches of Nigerian governors on the occasion of Workers' Day.These works include; studies on Inaugural speeches of the Presidents, Election Campaign speeches, Discourse Markers and Cohesion in Election Debates and Victory Speeches of the Presidents which have been done by different scholars (see Gusthini Sobarna, and Amalia, 2018;Ugwu, 2016;Anigbo, 2018;Munir, 2014).In the same vein, studies on pragmatics and stylistics have also been done by many scholars in different context of language use.Most of these studies either failed to address issues relating to the State Governors, the workers, and the citizens, or nothing is said concerning the situation at all (see Ayeomoni, and Akinkuolere, 2012;Udeze, Udeze, and Dereck-Orji, 2017;Basiru, 2015).Hence, the present study is interested in carrying out a Pragma-Stylistics study of selected speeches of governors on the Workers' Day Celebration in Nigeria.
This study aims at investigating the language of selected speeches of some governors on Workers' Day in Nigeria.However, this study has the interest to show how the language of the governors is organized to communicate their intentions to the workers in Nigeria.To achieve the aim of the study, the objectives are to identify the pragmatic features of the selected speeches of the governors on Workers' Day celebration in Nigeria, and to determine how the identified features reveal the intentions of the governors in their speeches.

Review of Related Literature
Obviously, pragmatics is a study that many scholars have worked on in various areas, especially in political discourse.The current research aims to clearly present their findings and conclusions to demonstrate their relevance to this study.This will help establish a foundation for the gap this study intends to fill.Gusthini, Sobarna, and Amalia (2016) did a Pragmatic analysis of Speech as an Instrument of Power on the USA Presidential Debate in 2016.This research aimed at analyzing the speeches of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the USA presidential candidates' debate as an instrument of power.The study adopted the design function and internet transcript method and specifically, descriptive qualitative method.They used a data analysis technique that described the context, analyzed the illocutionary acts and the power dimensions.The findings of this research showed that the speakers use the speech act as an instrument of power.Also, it was found that the speakers demonstrated their power to try to convince the voters in their society to trust them to be the president.In addition, it was found that the usage of speech in debate as an instrument of power can influence the voters, especially on Election Day.
It is important to note that a language is a tool for communication among individuals.According to Gunarwan (2004) "the function of a language is to make the communicants be able to understand each other to effect good communication"(p.6).This indicates that when a language user uses the language correctly and effectively, some actions can be performed, thereby, performing actions through utterances is known as speech acts.According to Yule (1996) "speech acts enable people naturally to express themselves, not only by producing utterances with grammatical structures and words but those utterances that perform actions" (p.47).This research sees speech act as the attempt of doing something purely by speaking and explained that the speech act has five classifications.They are declaration, representation, expression, directive, and commissive.The directive class is usually meant to do something such as; commands, orders, requests, and suggestions.In this case, it can mean that only those who have power can give a command as well as order.This is to say that the relationship between a speech act and power can easily be identified.According to Cutting (2002), "people do not have equal control in interactions because there are inequalities of power" (p.120).He established the fact that the speech act of requesting even attracts inequalities of power.
The findings of this study entail that the candidates tried to convince the people; that is the voters by showing the mistakes of the opponents during their tenures and also to show the economic influence as a factor to control power.By this, the illocutionary act of Trump exposed his wealth as the owner of several companies in many countries of the world.Hence, it was concluded that Clinton is rich but Trump in order of magnitude, is richer than Clinton.As we now know, Senator Donald Trump officially won the election and became the president of the USA.
Ayeomoni and Akinkuolere ( 2012) based their research study on the identification of speech acts features of President Umaru Yar' Adua Victory and Inaugural speech on a pragmatic analysis.The focus is on the pragmatic functions of locution, illocutionary, and perlocutionary.This study is determined to explore the global pattern of the pragmatic move of the selected political speeches.Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) was the grammatical model in this study.The data were drawn from the Victory speech and Inaugural speech and both speeches were analyzed using the Speech Act theory of Austin (1962) and Searle (1969).The findings of this study showed that the selected speeches of President Yar' Adua were more assertive, directive, verdictive, and commissive.Hence, this result implied that Umaru Yar' Adua relied on sentences that perform assertive acts more than other speech acts.The president used sentences that are verdictive and directive to assert his authority and exercise his power as the president.It was noted that expressive sentences were the least.This connotes that the president exploits fewer sentences which are meant to indicate the sincerity of his intentions.The speech act analysis of the political discourse of Umaru Yar Adua provided the understanding that political leaders in Nigeria perform various acts through their speeches.The speech acts theory assisted in the understanding and interpretation of the messages in these speeches.The findings showed that the Overall Relative Frequency Percentages (ORFPs) of the study was: assertive-60%, directive-35%, expressive-15%, verdictive-40%, commissive-30% and declarative-20%.There ORFPs showed that the president relied more on sentences that performed assertive acts than speech acts.Also, the president used vindictive sentences and directives to assert his authority and exercise his power as the president.Furthermore, the finding interpreted that the speech acts of the political leaders in Nigeria perform various acts through their speeches.The insight from this study explains that the primary function of language is communication.Language is a means which makes man distinct from other animals.Thus, language is essential in the implementation of a successful democratic rule in any country of the world.According to Taiwo (2009), "language is the conveyer belt of power, it moves people to vote, debate or revolt; therefore, it gives a central explanation of stability or polarization " (p. 192).
Speechmaking is very important mostly for the office of the president since speech creates an avenue to link with the people.Therefore, speech can be seen as a means of establishing and maintaining social relationships, expressing feelings, and selling ideas in politics in any society.Several speeches are made to address the people from time to time as the situation demands whether it is victory speech, inaugural speech, campaign speech, and rally.But, it is noted that often, the point of delivering the victory and inaugural speeches are for the politicians to reaffirm their commitment to serve either by repeating the programs of their parties or election campaign speeches.This agrees that the presidency or governorship office has been recognized as a rhetorical institution whose speeches are enlivened to persuade and convince the nation or society on the one hand and provide avenues for familiarizing the audience with the organization and recognizability of the presidency or governorship office, on the other hand, encapsulate the nations or states.
Language is a potent instrument in the hands of political leader, who often use it to manipulate the masses.In the context of politics, where the struggle for power is pervasive, language is a crucial means of attaining such power.In this respect, it shows that the concepts of 'language' and 'politics' are intertwined.This appears to agree with the claim of Opeibi in Ayeomoni &Akinkuolere (2012) p.462) when he asserts "language is a vital process of setting the personality and the program of the candidates to the public, with the primary aim of gaining their support and mobilizing them to participate in the process of securing and controlling power " (p.462)This study concludes that the identification of speech acts types in speeches go a long way in ascribing meaning to such speeches.It reveals that speech acts can give true meaning to speeches and in every sentence there should be one speech act or the other and it shows that the act of saying something at a particular time means a particular act is performed.
Hashim (2015) investigated the role of language in the communication and interpretation of intentions by examining selected political speeches of John Kerry's (2004) Presidential Campaign andGeorge Bush's (2001) Inaugural Address.The study focused on the pragmatic functions of locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts of the speakers.The result shows that Kerry used more sentences with assertive acts.The researcher adopted Searle's classification for analysis.However, politicians communicate directly with the public commonly to convince them of their political intentions, especially during political campaigns.This shows that the political leaders perform different acts through their speeches.Then, the dominance of speech acts in the political speeches reflects that the influences of the power of the politicians are to persuade, impress, convince, and even to deceive the populace.
Political language deals with the use of language to influence people's minds and opinions; it is mostly used as an instrument of control in society.In other words, political speech is a medium of establishing and maintaining social relationships, expressing feelings, and selling ideas for politics and programs in any given society.According to Chilton (2004)"many studies on political discourse deal with the language of professional politicians and political institutions, some of which are discourse-analytical" (p.14).It was found that Kerry's speech act was characterized by the use of commissive speech acts.On the other hand, Bush's speech act was more of assertive speech acts.
Altikriti, (2016) carried out research work on "Persuasive Speech Acts in Barrack Obama's Inaugural Speeches (2009,2013) and The Last State of the Union Address (2016).This study is aimed at shedding light on the role of speech acts in political addresses.In this respect, the study examined and analyzed three selected political speeches of Obama.The research adopted the model of Bach and Harnish taxonomy (1979) to specify the aims and intentions of the research.The analysis revealed that president Obama used more sentences that performed constative speech acts.The assertive illocutionary acts are used as a persuasive element.The result showed the important role of persuasive speech acts in political discourse and the impact it creates on the audience.
Persuasion is an ancient Greek term the aim of which is to achieve power.The word 'persuasion' is described in various ways, like influencing, convincing, manipulating, or tempting.Persuading someone means performing an act with the effect of some form of language in communication.It is realized that a persuasive message or communication can be effective.This refers to the use of persuasive techniques that emphasize how the recipient's actions and attitudes can impact the effectiveness of persuasive language.For instance Fotheringham (1966) defines "persuasion as that body of effects in receivers, relevant and instrumental to source desired goals, brought about by a process in which messages have been a major determinant of those effects" (p.7).This explains that Fotheringham does not focus on the language users and the psychological impact of the persuasive communication rather he focused on the receivers, that is, the recipients of the communication.In another angle, Similarly, Scheidel (9167) postulated that "persuasion is the activity in which the speaker and listener are together, and the speaker consciously attempts to influence the behavior of the listener by transmitting audible and visible symbols" (p.1).The ideas from these scholars have shown that persuasion depends on two aspects in communication and the intention to persuade the audience.
Although a persuasive strategy can be effective and acceptable depending on the specific situation it is applied to, the research tried to explore three different kinds of persuasive strategy.They are quasi-logical, presentational, and analogy persuasion.In this regard, presentational persuasion is an important feature as regard persuasive style.According to Jonestone (1989), "presentational persuasion is to make one's claim maximally present in the audience consciousness, by repeating, paraphrasing and calling aesthetic attention to it" (p.148).
Language plays a crucial role in politics because it enables politicians to shape and control the values, attitudes, and decision-making of the public.As a result, language is the most ancient and powerful tool of persuasion employed by politicians.In fact, persuasion in politics is a form of social practice.In political context, language is the most influential tool for interaction or transaction and it is believable that there is an inherent relationship between language and politics.According to Chilton (2004), "politics is as a struggle for power between those who seek to assert and maintain their power and those who seek to resist it" (p.3).This shows that politicians usually use language and power to persuade the public either to take political action or make political decisions.It is noticed that specific features dominate the political speeches as could be seen through linguistic manipulation in political discourse.For this reason, Cutting (2002,) stated that "pragmatics is the written maxims of conversation that the speaker follows to cooperate and be socially acceptable to each other" (p.187).This is why Austin (1962) when exploring ways of regarding language as a form of action introduced speech acts as an aspect of pragmatics which can use persuasion to interpret information in communication with a particular intention.This shows that speech acts are frames with conventional meaning or intent.It is so because various types of speech acts have been investigated in terms of functions and use of language such as; imitation, refusal, request, congratulations, and even persuasion.In this regard, Searle (1969) affirmed persuasion as a directive speech act in which the speaker intends to perform some actions.Koutchade (2017) analyzed the speech acts in Buhari's Address at the 71 st session of the UN General Assembly.This political speech was examined with the linguistic theory of pragmatics.The focus was especially to identify speech acts used in this address.The descriptive research design is used as well as the quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches.The Speech Act Theory of Searle's (1969) was adopted.The application of the Speech Act Theory in the analysis of the study revealed in-depth research into the linguistic features that have been explored by the speaker to interpret meanings in the linguistic properties of the selected speeches.The study proved that illocutionary speech acts identified in this speech showed President Buhari's intentions and priorities.The results indicated that the diverse speech acts employed were subject to multiple interpretations, particularly in the context of Nigeria's worldview.The speech act is one important feature of pragmatics with actions relating to language use.The study on the political speech made by Buhari on the 71 st United Nations General Assembly is otherwise an aspect of political discourse.
"A political speech is not necessarily a success because of the correctness of truth; rather it may be a matter of presenting arguments" (Bread, 2000, p.18).This means that political speeches are the language of persuasion in the sense that these speeches are composed by a team of professional speech writers who are trained to use persuasive language.In this case, words and expressions are used to affect meaning in different ways.Therefore, political speech serves as a text, as an output, and as a process that may be spoken or written.This shows that most politicians do not understand that there is an integral point between what is said, what is meant, and the act conveyed by what is said.The study of meaning has become a concern to linguists.Now, two different fields of studies have been distinguished, although they are complementary not regarding being different in perspectives.They are semantics and pragmatics; even linguistically, semantics is said to be defined as the study of meaning."Semantic analysis is an attempt to focus on the conventional meaning of words" (Yule, 1996, p.14).It means that semantics studies the conventional meaning of words, phrases, and sentences used in a language whereas, pragmatics is described as the study of language in use.This entails that the difference, however, according to Grundy (2000) "in semantic analysis, there is an attempt to focus on what the words conventionally mean, while pragmatic analysis focuses on what a speaker might want the words to mean on a particular occasion (p.33).

Theoretical Foundation
As this study is on pragmatic analysis, it establishes the fact that instruments that can help to carry the pragmatic and stylistic operations should be considered to be relevant and exact.This purpose made the researchers select the Speech Acts Theory to serve as the theory that are worthwhile for the analysis of this study.Therefore, theoretical framework for this study is Speech Act Theory.From the background of this study, it has been established that pragmatics is the study of language use according to the context in use.The study of pragmatics came up into the linguistics field in the late seventies.This field of study is concerned with how effective communication can be produced in a communicative act.Pragmatics intends to bring out the meaning of the speaker in any form of communication.In this regard, Kasper (1997) said that "pragmatics is the ability to comprehend and produce a communicative act".It does not matter how eloquent, the ability to use explicit and implicit language, politeness, and linguistic knowledge in language use, but the most important thing is that the speaker should be competent to make meaningful speeches or utterances in any context of language use.Whenever any speaker even the writer fails to communicate meaningfully in any context of language use, the purpose of the communication and interaction has failed.This implies that since this study is on pragma-stylistic analysis of the speeches of the governors on Workers' Day, it calls that thorough attention is paid to pragmatic approach so that the pragmatic features of this study should properly be captured.Also, Cutting (2002) sees the importance of pragmatics as "the written maxims of conversation that the speaker follows to co-operate socially acceptable principles" (p.189).The speaker does not use words haphazardly so that the listener(s) will not lose co-operation in the communication which could be unacceptable socially, and looks like a disgrace to the speaker.

Speech Act Theory
The aspect of pragmatic analysis on this study uses 'Speech Act Theory' which was first initiated by Austin (1962) in the search for ways of explicating language as a form of action.According to Grice and Searle in Sbisa (2007, p.52), 'it was noted that Austin has the most influential record in the birth and development of pragmatics'.This is so because of the influence of Speech Act Theory in the study of language.
To use speech act to influence power, actions, aspirations, ideas, and motives has shown that this theory is very effective to describe linguistic features.According to Yule (1996) "speech act carries grammatical structures which express utterances that perform actions expressively without doubts" (p.47).It is the speech ac that carries the language of the speaker(s).The speech act is interactive.It is today one of the main aspects of pragmatic studies as utterances are used to perform actions.In this view, Searle (1969) referred to speech act as the medium in which the speaker intends to make the hearer(s) perform some forms of actions.For Searle, the speech act is not either the word or sentence type but what the word or sentence produces that is the illocutionary act.Searle sees the illocutionary act as the basic unit of language and it is more relevant in the context of communication.In speech act theory, Searle introduced the notion of the proposition as the common content of various expressions.
Speech act as a theory sees the pragmatic act as that which does not communicate more than what the speaker says rather it entails that an utterance that is either written or spoken functions to show in any language and communication as a speech act.Therefore, we believe that when anyone is speaking a meaningful thing with a language, it is observed that a performing speech act has occurred.This performance could be; statements, commands, questions, making requests, or remarks.However, these performances are carried out following certain rules of linguistics just because every communication either written or spoken is made possible by linguistic codes.Then, it is wise to say that the speech act is the actual communicative element in any language communication.This explicates that according to Ndimele (2008) that "a word is defined as a minimal unit of linguistic expression" (p.4) so also, the speech act could be deduced to mean a minimal or basic unit of linguistic communication.In human communication, speech act theory has become the theory of language in use because it arouses the largest and highest interest as it orients the scientific endeavors towards the study of functional language.This supposes that speech act as the basic unit of communication with the principle of expression postulates that certain analytic connections exist between the speech act, what the speaker means or intends, what the sentence uttered means, what the hearer understands, and the rules governing the linguistic elements.Hence, in linguistics, speech act theory has become the central theory that pragmatics accounts for.
The speech act theory is rooted in the philosophy of language.The insight for this idea came up as the philosophers such as Austin, Searle, Bierwish and others based their assumptions that minimal units of human communication are not linguistic expressions but the performance of certain acts such as, apologizing, thanking, and complimenting.So, Austin used the term 'speech act' to mean an utterance and the total context in which the utterance is used.According to Mey (2006) speech acts are verbal actions happening in the world' (p.95).In this regard, it interprets that the outcome of an utterance means to express three different levels of actions.The speech act postulated by Austin developed the performative act.Speech acts as defined by the Centre for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA, 2015) 'as an utterance that serves a function in communication'.Speech acts occur as in real-life interactions require the effective knowledge of the language within a given culture.Therefore, Grundy (2008) says that 'speech acts are language in action' (p.71).Speech act explores the performative nature of utterances in what people say since it has a force as well as the content.To interpret the outcome of an utterance means to express three different levels of actions.These three actions include the locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts.
(1) The Locutionary Act: This is the first element otherwise known as the basic act of utterance.It produces a meaningful linguistic expression.It produces the performance of an utterance that conveys the actual utterance.According to Austin (1962) 'performing a locutionary act is roughly equivalent to uttering a certain sentence with a certain sense and reference, which is again equivalent to meaning in the traditional sense' (p.108).Locutionary act comprises phonetics and phatic, syntactic, and semantic components of any meaningful speech.The phonetic act is concerned with the uttering sounds; the phatic act performs the act of uttering words.Consequently, Searle was against this notion but he modified them.Searle stated that phonetic act should be utterance act; phatic act should be mere morphemes, words, and sentences while the rhetic act is the propositional act and illocutionary act.Although over the years the utterance acts with propositional acts are an inherent part of speech act theory, it takes a look that much attention is now given to illocutionary acts.
(2) The Illocutionary Act: This is the most interesting act of three because it is actually where speakers do things with the words.It is the action performed by the speaker when an utterance is produced.It carries the statement that forms actions in the utterance.The illocutionary act dictates how the utterance in the conversation is basically to be taken.When the illocutionary act is performed by the speaker, it is the context where the speech occurs that will help the hearer to decode the meaning.On this note, it is expedient to state that certain speech acts can be culture-specific and it is the reason why they cannot be used universally.This point should be considered important when encoding and decoding speech acts.As the interpretation of speech acts differs according to culture, then, when the illocutionary act is performed by the speaker, it can be easily misinterpreted by the hearer if the hearer is from a different background.This implies that communication is certainly successful when the illocutionary speech act and the speaker's intention are understood by the hearer.Sometimes, it is noticed that the illocutionary act could be complicated in the sense that the same utterance can have more illocutionary forces (meaning) as a matter of the Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID), the context, the culture, and some other factors.For instance, in this sentence: "The gate is open".Ordinarily, this is a simple declarative sentence or statement.It can be interpreted as a direct speech act or an indirect speech act.It could be that it is answering literal questions in this form: "Which way can I take?" or "How did you come in?"It can be taken as an indirect command to tell somebody to do whatever he likes.In this respect, it indicates that two illocutionary forces identified in these sentences above were determined by the common propositional content in them.Then, it depends on the speaker and contextual situation that entails the actual speech act to interpret in the sentences.Though some statements may be performative utterances, this is when the sentence performs actions actually, while those that report or describe the state of things are constative utterances.In this case, performative utterances perform actions through performative verbs like: ask, promise et cetera.Oftentimes, they are explicit or implicit and we observed that when we perform an illocutionary act such as; informing, ordering, warning, even undertaking they produce conventional force when such utterances are made.Illocutionary acts as the power or intentions behind the words that are uttered by the speaker and they also indicate the speaker's purpose in saying something.The interpretation of the illocutionary acts is concerned with force, take for instance: "I will go to the market to buy your car at 10 am".In this utterance, the speaker has made an action of 'promise' through language to go to the market at 10 am.Hence, illocutionary force is the speaker's intention.The intention of the speaker could be direct or indirect.A direct illocutionary act is when the intention of the speaker is in line with sentence type.Speech act in effect is to communicate with people.It displays a common attribute that is, it uses an expression that shows one speech act, performs the act, and performs a further speech act which is usually indirect.For instance, this utterance can be made."John can you drive the car?"In the real sense, asking John if he can drive, is requesting if he can drive or not.But, when the speaker's request is done indirectly, it counts as an indirect speech act.Therefore, it is the context that can only say exactly the effect of the request.When the speaker says anything in indirect speech act, the communication will rely more on the mutually shared background information, the general understanding by rationality and inference which the hearer can exhibit in the communication Indirect illocutionary occurs when the intention of the speaker is to be taken care of in line with other factors like context, situation, and social information.
Austin and Searle's classification of speech acts is the most cited in linguistics.Herein, the illocutionary speech acts are into major categories.These categories are: 1) Representative or Assertive: This speech act commits the speaker to express the proposition of truth and false.The speaker says his utterances are based on opinion or fact on certain over some time.It states what the speaker believes over anything that is observed.It includes; a statement of fact, recitation, conclusion, description, and assertion.For example, 'I know him to be a kind person.
2) Directive: In this speech act, the speaker stimulates a hearer to do something.Examples: order, request, command, advice, question, and suggestion.For example, 'I have told you, stop going in the rain'.
3) Commissive: This commits the speaker to do something in the future.Examples: offering, promising, oath, threatening, refusal, pledge.For instance, 'I will build your house.4) Expressive: This expresses the psychological states that are; the speaker's attitudes and emotions are interpreted to the hearers.Examples: thanking, congratulations, apologizing, and welcoming.5) Declarative: This explains the speech act which causes immediate changes in the institutional state of affairs and tends to rely on extra-linguistic features.Examples: christen, declare, baptism, and pronouncing an authority on someone.For example, 'I declare you a wedded woman.6) Exercitive: This is a speech act that gives a decision for or against a course of action.It is an assertion of influencing or exercising power.It includes; appoint, dismiss, order and sentence.Example: 'For being the best student, you are the course leader'.
(3) Perlocutionary Act: This is the element of speech act that performs its intention of production on the hearer.Often, the distinction between the illocutionary and perlocutionary is very tiny.At the perlocutionary act level, many utterances may convey the information directly to affect the purpose in the hearer's mind while the others do not.It is the real effect to carry out the perlocutionary act by the illocutionary in locutionary act.According to Austin (1962), 'Saying something will often, or even normally, produces certain consequential effects upon the feelings, thoughts or actions of another person, and it may be done with the design, intention or purpose of producing them; ... in other words, it is called the performance of an act.The act of this kind is called the performance of a perlocutionary act (p.101).
The major source of gathering data for this study is the downloaded May Day speeches of the selected governors from the internet and the use of library documentaries.The two governors' speeches were downloaded and transcribed to the written form of record by an expert in linguistics.(https://oyostate.gov.ng and https://akwaibom.gov.ng).This work is centered on the Pragma Analysis of selected speeches of Governors on Workers' Day in Nigeria.It was carried out on the selected speeches of Governor Seyi Makinde (2020) of Oyo State and Governor Udom Emmanuel (2019) of Akwa Ibom State during the Workers' Day.This is so because these states are among the states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Also, Data collected were analyzed using Austin's and Searl's Speech Act Theories.The essence of this study is to identify the pragmatic features used by the governors to convey their intentions.

Data A: 2020 Workers' Day Celebration Speech in Oyo State
A1-Locution: When I was taking over the affairs of government on May 29, 2019, I never envisaged that our first Workers' Day Celebration will happen without the usual pomp.
The governor is expressing disappointment about the fact that the usual pomp and celebration that is typically associated with Workers' Day was absent due to unforeseen circumstances.The speaker's tone and choice of words suggest a sense of dissatisfaction with the situation.A2-Locution: No one would have thought at that time that in just one year the world would be thrown into confusion as the struggle to understand a new strain of the Corona-Virus disease.
Illocution: Direct: Declarative (confirming); Indirect: Assertive (reporting); Perlocution: Worry The perlocutionary effect of A2 is worry, as the speaker expresses concern about the confusion caused by the new strain of corona virus and its impact on the world.A3-Locution: But, as the saying goes you have to take the bad with the good.
Illocution: Direct: Assertive (stating); Indirect: Directive (instructing); Perlocution: Hopefulness The perlocutionary effect of A3 is hopefulness, as the speaker encourages the listeners to remain positive and accept both good and bad experiences in life.A4-Locution: It is a day to remember that the labors of workers in public and private sector and in the formal and informal sector are the back on which our economy rest.
The perlocutionary effect of A4 is encouraging.The speaker is appealing to the listeners to remember and appreciate the important role that workers play in the economic development A5-Locution: It is a day to take stock of how we as a nation have been treating our workforce and what we need to do to improve their working conditions.Illocution: Direct: Assertive (stating); Indirect: Declarative (confirming); Perlocution: Hopefulness.
The effect of A5 perlocutionary is hopefulness, as the speaker suggests that reflecting on how the nation treats on its workforce can lead to positive changes and better working conditions, conveying a sense of optimism and potential for improvement.A6-Locution: We must on this day appreciate the efforts of those who have taken pay cuts so that others may be catered for.
Illocution: Direct: Exercitive (urging); Indirect: Expressive (appreciating); Perlocution: Applause The perlocutionary effect of A6is applause, as the speaker urges the audience to appreciate and applaud those who have taken pay cuts to support other, conveying a sense of admiration and recognition for their selflessness.A7-Locution: I am happy that under this administration the well-being of the common man takes precedence.
The perlocutionary effect of A7 is hopefulness, as the speaker expresses assurance that the well-being of the common man is a priority under the current administration, showing a sense of optimism and confidence in their direction.
A8-Locution: I give my word, we will continue to put in the work needed to ensure that Oyo State workers are never paid with bear-with-us at the end of any month.
The perlocutionary effect A8 is hopefulness, as the speaker makes a promise to ensure that Oyo State workers are paid on time and without delay, depicting a sense of urgency and determination that inspires hope and confidence in the audience.A9-Locution: It will not happen.We won't come to you to say; please, bear with us.
The perlocutionary effect of A9 is hopefulness, as the speaker's assurance that workers won't have to endure delays in payment of salaries conveys a sense of confidence and determination that inspires hope and trust in the audience that the government is committed to resolving the issue.A10-Locution: Post Covid-19 we will left with an economy which must be grown and sustained.This is why I ran for governor.
The perlocutionary effect of A10 is optimistic, as the speaker's affirmation of their purpose for running for govern and their focus on growing and sustaining the economy after the pandemic conveys a sense of determination and positivity that inspires hope and confidence in the audience that the speaker is capable of leading the state towards a brighter future.A11-Locution: We want to get our economy back on track.
A11 is an assertive statement that directly appeals to the audience's sense of hopefulness and encourages them to take part in the effort to revive the country's economy.A12-Locution: We are injecting funds to kick-start our economic recovery.
The statement has an optimistic effect, intended to inspire confidence and positivity about the prospects of economic recovery.A13-Locution: We are taking these steps because of you the workers on whose back the economy rest.
The perlocutionary A13 is to give hopefulness, which aims to boost the workers' morale and to motivate them to continue their hard work by acknowledging their essential role in the economy.
A14-Locution: The 25 th of every month will remain the date when you receive your salaries every month.It is the GSM day and it will continue as the GSM day.
The perlocutionary of A14 is to give hopefulness, by committing to continue paying salaries on the 25 th of every month, which aims to instill a sense of security and stability among the listeners, and alleviate financial stress.A15-Locution: We will continue to prioritize your health and safety.This pandemic has shown how decay our health care system is.
The speaker in A15 encourages listeners to prioritize their health and safety, confirming the organization's commitment to creating a safe environment.This is to inspire proactive measures and advocacy for systemic changes.

A16-Locution:
We remain open to ideas that will help our economy grow.
In A16, the speaker's statement has an encouraging effect, motivating listeners to engage in creative thinking and collaboration.A17-Locution: So, I say please approach me.Tell me what you think, I'll listen to you.
A18-Locution: The entire cabinet will continue to work with Labor Union, with the people of Oyo State to ensure that Oyo State attains its right place in Nigeria.
In A18, the speaker's direct commissive assertion to work with the Labor Union and people of Oyo State has a hopeful perlocutionary effect, inspiring optimism, and commitment towards achieving progress.A19-Locution: I want to appreciate the Labor Union, the TUC, the NLC and the affiliated union for the award that you just gave to me.
In A19, the speaker's direct expressive statement of appreciation has a perlocutionary effect of applause, inspiring the audience to respond positively, and recognize the speaker's achievement.A20-Locution: So, I give you my commitment that myself and the administration, we will continue to be open to you, we will continue to listen to you and we will not discard your counsel.
Illocution: Direct: Assertive (stating); Indirect: Commissive (assuring); Perlocution: Assurance.A20 creates a perlocutionary effect of assurance, inspiring trust in the speaker and the administration, and potentially encouraging greater encouragement with the government to promote positive change.B2-Locution: You refused to give to blackmail, to intimidation, to falsehood and the organized attempt they did to tear the cords of our relationship for political gains.
The perlocutionary act B2 is to convince the audience of the speaker's integrity and steadfastness in the face of attempts to damage their relationship for political gain.
B3-Locution: The organized labor has been very supportive of my administration.I must confess and for this, I remain totally indebted and grateful to labor movement.
Illocution: Direct: Commissive (vowing); Indirect: Declarative (confirming); Perlocution: Hopefulness The perlocutionary act in B3 is to evoke hopefulness in the audience by vowing to remain indebted and grateful to the labor movement for their support on the administration.
B4-Locution: The maintenance of industrial peace in the past almost four years in Akwa Ibom has helped in the realization of the stable economic growth in the state and an atmosphere of shade commitment to peace that we enjoy, prosperity and development of this our dear state.
The perlocutionary of B4 is excitement indicating that the listener is likely impressed, or pleased with the fact that industrial peace has contributed to economic growth and development in Akwa Ibom State, and may be motivated to take further actions to ensure peace and progress.
B5-Locution: I want to say here we don't have any other state outside Akwa Ibom and all hands must be on deck.
The perlocutionary of B5 is hopefulness, indicating that the listener is likely to feel reassured and optimistic about the collective effort to improve Akwa Ibom State, due to the speaker's emphasis on unity and collaboration.
B6-Locution: I make a pledge to you 2015 when I assumed the saddle of leadership of this state as a dedicated worker, I will be a friendly governor and so far, I believe I have lived up to the expectations.
The perlocutionary of B6 is fulfilment, suggesting that the listeners feel reassured that the speaker has kept their promise to be a friendly governor, based on the speaker's affirmation of their commitment and track record.
B7-Locution: I make bold steps to announce that in the past how many years and trust me I beat my chest for that I am one governor in this country that have never waited for statutory allocation to pay the salaries of my workers.
The perlocutionary B7 is fulfilment, suggesting that the listeners is likely impressed and reassured that the speaker has prioritized the welfare of workers, and the speaker's statement urges other to follow their example.
B8-Locution: The nation was going through sever economic challenge and the ability of the newly sworn governors to fulfill critical obligations such as payment of salaries became a huge nightmare.
The perlocutionary B8 is complaint, indicating the listener is likely to feel concerned about the challenges faced by newly sworn governors during economic hardness particularly with regards to paying salaries.The speaker affirms the severity of the situation and urges action to address the issue.
B9-Locution: We've been liquidating and will continue.I stand here to tell the two leaders; the NLC chairman was asking me' make pronouncement.I want to tell him in areas of the welfare of workers.I concurred.
The perlocutionary of B9 is hopefulness, suggesting that the listener is likely to feel optimistic about the speaker's commitment to workers' welfare and their agreement with the NLC chairman.The speaker's statement is both an assurance, and a positive outlook for workers' welfare.
B10-Locution: We owe that dedication that we would deny ourselves of every comfort to make sure every retired worker in this state is taking care of.
The perlocutionary of B10 is hopefulness, suggesting that the listener is likely to feel optimistic about the speaker's promise and vow to take care of the retired workers in the state.The statement conveys a strong commitment to the welfare of retired workers, creating a positive outlook for their future.
B11-Locution: I want to proudly announce, please I have been announcing this, am yet to see one person who have been a civil servant in this state, who would come out to my office one day and say; sir, I've worked for this state; I have not received my pensions.Please, let's know you.
The perlocutionary of B11 is instructing, as the speaker is urging civil servants who have not received their pensions to come forward, and make their situation known to him.
B12-Locution: I am first of all addressing pension because pensions are those things that you use to meet your daily needs.We must uphold that social contract.We must keep to that social contract.
The perlocutionary of B12 is convincing as the speaker is trying to persuade the audience to believe in the importance of upholding the social contract of providing pensions to retirees to meet their daily needs.
B13-Locution: I want to say here that I urging you to continue to support the policies that are people driven.
Policies that would ensure a gubernatorial society.
The perlocutionary B13 is optimistic, as the speaker is encouraging the audience to support people-driven policies that would lead to a better society.
B14-Loction: I enjoin the workers not to be willing tools in the hands of some mischief makers whose talking trade is to disseminate falsehood and propaganda, all aim at demarcating our state and our achievements.
The perlocutionary of B14 is to instruct the workers not to be influenced by individuals spreading false information and propaganda that could harm the state, and its accomplishments.
B15-Loction: I hope, I hope people are not playing politics with the minds of people but I'm sure Akwa Ibom people know the truth and they will rise to speak the truth and we enjoy the truth.
The perlocutionary in B15 is optimistic, as the speaker expresses hope that people will speak the truth and enjoy it, indicating a positive outcome.
B16-Locution: I want to assure you all there are Akwa Ibom State government ; I say we will implement the new minimum wage bill which was recently signed into law by the president after you have done all your own side of necessary documentation.
The perlocutionary of B16 is hopefulness, meaning that the speaker aims to inspire optimism and confidence in the audience regarding the implementation of the new minimum wage bill.
The perlocution in this context is instructing as the speaker is giving an order for the listener to ensure their documents are properly done.
B18-Locution: We remain passionately committed to the welfare of our workers to the full extent of our resources available.
The perlocutionary act of B18 is to create a sense of hopefulness in the audience by assuring them that the government is dedicated to the welfare of the workers, 3hich implies that the workers can expect some improvement in their working conditions.
B19-Locution: I promise to always give and keep a listening ear to your issues and concerns, and together the peace we have enjoyed all round will continue to flourish and abound in our state.
The perlocution in B19 is an expression of approval or applause.The speaker's assurance to always listen to the issues and concerns of the people is likely to generate positive feelings and optimistic outlook from the audience.B20-Locution: Akwa Ibom is rising and together with our organized labor, it is forward.
The perlocution of B20 is to express hope and optimism for the future by invoking a sense of blessing and good fortune.

Discussion of Results
Language is marked as the principal medium humans use to establish communication in every sphere of life; which includes the political aspect of humanity.It means that language is a vehicle that the political leaders use daily to actualize one purpose or the other.When we purposefully interpret the speeches, especially the political leaders' speeches, we get to understand their thoughts, intentions, and motives.The discussion of findings in this section of this research cantered on the Percentage of Speech of Searle (1969) and Austin (1962) and the Systemic Functional Linguistics.For the analysis of these speeches to be accounted for Speech Acts Theory; the speeches were labelled A and B also the discussions are done in the order of their presentations.It is noted that both direct and indirect illocutionary acts of the speech acts were analyzed.

Data A: 2020 Workers' Day Celebration in Oyo State
In the Workers' Day delivered by Governor Seyi Makinde in Oyo State (2020), the speaker used a variety of speech acts to convey his intentions, interest, and promises to the workers.As realized through the analysis, the main speech acts were: assertive (37.5%), declaratives (17.5%), commissive (15%), executives (12.5%),expressive (12.5), and directives (5%).The use of assertive allowed the governor to inform, declare, and assure the workers of his commitment to improving the welfare of the workers, as can be found in his statement; "We will continue to prioritize your health and safety.This pandemic has shown how decay our health care system is".
The speaker used commissive to encourage and appeal to the listeners, rather making promises as politicians do often.He assured them that their salaries would never be delayed, as stated thus: "I give you my word, we will continue to put in the work needed to ensure that Oyo State workers are never paid with bear-with-us at the end of the month.It will not happen.The speaker's emphasis on fulfilling his promises demonstrated his genuine concern for the workers' wellbeing.
The speech acts of expressive and exercitives were used to appreciate, and commend the workers' value as well as to applaud for their contributions to the state economic recovery.He emphasized that the workers are the forefront of the state economy, thus: "the labor of workers in public and private sector, and in the formal and informal sector is the back on which our economy rest".He assured the audience that he is open to accept their ideas and suggestion for improving the state as he said; "…we remain open to ideas that will help our economy grow.So, I say please approach me.Tell me what you think I'll listen to you".
In summary, the speaker's use of different speech acts indicated his sincerity and ingenuity over the things that concern the workers such as: their welfare and his commitment to improving their working conditions.He demonstrates a sense of willingness to work in collaboration with the workers to achieve a common goal for their state.
He showed his gratitude to the workers in their support to maintain orderliness and tranquility in the state.He said thus; "You refused to give to blackmail, to intimidation, to falsehood and the organized attempt they did to tear the cords of our relationship for political gains".This expression instigated that the workers did not distort the progress, peace, and unity in the state.This shows that if eventually, these workers had joined hands to blackmail, intimidation, and to accept the falsehood; there could not be cords of relationship in this state.This implies that the workers are the pillars of unity and progress, and they are the stakeholders of government.The speech act of assertive was used to portray the commitment to build the state and to encourage the workers.
The commissive acts were used to promise, to assure, and activate the hope of the listeners.He showed his concern to be a dedicated leader and who has actualized this purpose as thus; "I make a pledge to you 2015 when I assumed the saddle of leadership of this state, as a dedicated worker, I will be a labor friendly governor and so far, I believed I have lived up to the expectations".As he compared the former administration with the present administration, it was realized that the speaker lived up to the expectation.This implied that the speaker has a high sense of value to co-operate with the workers, and to lead them as patriotic leader.His willing to motivate and to promote the working conditions of the workers was achieved.
Again, he said thus; "I make bold step to announce that the past, how many years and trust me I beat my chest for that, I am one governor in this country that have never waited for statutory allocation to pay the salaries of my workers…We've been liquidating and will continue.I stand here to tell the two leaders; the NLC chairperson was always asking me, make pronouncement.I want to tell him in areas of the welfare of workers; I concurred".It revealed that the governor has the interest of workers at heart.Furthermore, he vowed that "we owe that dedication that we would deny ourselves of every comfort to make sure every retired worker in this state is taking care-of".This showed that the retirees are not left out.
The exercitives were used to urge, appreciate, encourage and instruct the hearers.The speaker urged the workers that "I enjoined the workers not to be willing tools in the hands of some mischief makers whose talking trade is to disseminate falsehood and propaganda, all aim at demarcating our state and our achievements".His obliged in ensuring that security of the state should not be obstructed, therefore, he urged the listeners not to follow any propaganda that can cause havoc to the state.He revealed that some enemies are around to destroy the efforts of the state.It is recognizable that falsehood and propaganda do not favor anyone and they are strong weapons in the hands of the mischievous people therefore he that caution should be taken by every worker.
The declarative acts were used to confirm, affirm and assess the conditions of the workers and the requirements to improve stable economic growth.He confirmed that "the maintenance of industrial peace in the past almost four years now in Akwa Ibom has helped in the realization of the stable economic growth in the state and an atmosphere of shade commitment to peace that we enjoy, prosperity and development of our dear state".He affirmed the contributions of the workers by enhancing stability and good governance in the state through the maintenance of industrial peace.In other words, he declared that the achievements which have been observed are the collective work of the state government and workers.This showed that as the governor has recognized the efforts of the workers; then, it requires the good attitudes that can promote prosperity and development in the state should be encouraged.
The use of directives and expressive acts were revealed to convince, appeal, and request.He said, "I am first of all addressing pension because pensions are those things that you use to meet your daily needs.We must uphold that social contract.We must keep to that social contract".The speaker appealed to the workers that the social contract which upholds the pensions of the retired workers is prioritized.This is stressed as he confirmed that it was better to pay the pensioners than to do much in infrastructure.This showed that the lives of these retired workers are emphasized to be more important in the administration.It indicates that if the retired workers are being taken care of; the tendency that the state will thrive in productivity is certain.This is so because when these retired workers are cared-for, it helps to support the government and to build up the growth of the state from the wealth of their knowledge.Most often falsification is found in the civil service especially in age declaration due to inadequate care of the retirees since after retirement will begin to face hardships and unbearable health conditions.Therefore, the good governance that is real is the one that can affect the lives of the individual positively; hence, the governor and the workers' relationship can a reliable means to build up a healthy society.Also, he emphasized that "I promise to always give and keep listening ear to your issues and concerns and together with the peace, we have enjoyed all round will continue to flourish and abound in our state".The workers are recommended to stick to good attitudes that will foster growth and development in their state.

Summary and Conclusion
The goal of this work is to identify the pragmatic features of some selected speeches of the governors on Workers' Day celebration in Nigeria and to determine how the identified features show the intentions of the governors on the workers.The analysis revealed that the government and the workers are inseparable.The workers need the government while the government cannot progress or achieve anything significant without the full involvement of the workers.
The Workers' Day Celebration is one of the occasions that encourage nation building.This shows that the governors should not overlook the importance of the workers.This is because the workers stand on a very important ground to promote the government.This was deduced in the statement of these governors.For example; "It is a day to remember that the labor of workers in the public and private sectors and in the formal and informal sectors are the back on which our economy rest".The workers must be given a high sense of value in the society if there must be progress, unity and high rate of productivity.
Politics remains a unifying factor that can build up a strong society especially together with the Workers' Union.For instance, in the speeches of these leaders, this expression was made; "the maintenance of industrial peace in the past almost four years now in Akwa Ibom has helped in the realization of the stable economic growth in the state and an atmosphere of shade commitment to peace that we enjoy, prosperity and development of our state."This is the reason why most language scholars are putting in efforts to elucidate the meaning of political speeches and doing some research studies on political related matters.It is through the knowledge in linguistic studies that have enabled the linguists to explain the exact interpretations of the political speeches.
The speeches on May Day are more hopeful and selfless to enliven the lives of the listeners unlike other speeches of the political leaders on different occasions like; campaign speeches.This explains that Workers' Day celebration is very unique and remarkable compared to many other days our political leaders' voices are heard.In this essence, as the governors are closer to the common man it creates more assurance to the led.Through the attitudes and assurance from these governors, it is recorded that the masses feel better in the state government, since the workers are instigated to a certain level of improved life conditions.The finding of this showed that it means that any particular worker is attached to two or more persons at least in every community in each state.Therefore, once the workers' lives in the state are improved; virtually majority of the citizens will directly or indirectly become better and improved.It is a time the government should recognize that the betterment of the Nigerian workers' is symmetrically the empowerment of most persons.There is no reason the workers should be relegated.
This study reported that the intentions of the governors are not to deal with the workers with self-aggrandizement rather there should fairness and mutual relationship between the government and the workers.The speeches on Workers' Day do not end up spurring the listeners to favor the leaders; but the listeners are mostly the beneficiaries.In other words, the livelihood and every aspect of the workers' life are affected positively when good citizenship is encouraged and developed.It is found out that the more reason why our nation is in a serious decay is just because of the way the workers are handled in Nigeria.Therefore, if we should have a better society, the way to improve the workers should be sidelined.
The study showed that there were no forms of manipulative utterances recorded in these speeches of the governors.Although, it is observed that manipulations and persuasions are common features of political speeches, but Workers' Day speeches of the governors were assertive and expressive that stirred motivations on the workers for good followership.For instance: "I give my commitment that myself and the administration, we will continue to be open to you, we will continue to listen to you and we will not discard your counsel".It is worthy of note to state that a platform of this kind, that is Workers Day celebration is very efficient and proper for the promotion of unity and progress which are captured in the motto of Nigeria as a country.The need to maintain and ascertain the important roles of the workers to government should be given a thoughtful look, if any government will not go far in achieving credible heights.This is because the workers interest must be spelled out and should be incorporated as a major ground to achieve optimal progress as a nation.It is important to cry it aloud that the governors' commitment to workers can bring forth unimaginable change since it is a government at the grass root whereby a good number of people can be impacted.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Graphical Representation of the Analyzed Data 3.2 Data 2019 Workers' Day Speech in Akwa Ibom State B B1-Locution: I want to say I am delighted to join the labor family today to mark the 2019 May Day celebration jointly organized by the Nigeria labor Congress, TUC, ULC and Akwa Ibom State Council.Illoction: Direct: Exercitive (appreciating); Indirect: Assertive (stating); Perlocution: Applause.The speaker's statement is an expression of appreciation towards the labor family and the joint organization of the 2019 May Day celebration.

Table 1 .
State Oyo State 2020 Workers' Day Celebration Speech in Oyo State Workers' Day Celebration Speech in Akwa Ibom State Table 2. 2019 Workers' Day Celebration Speech in Akwa Ibom State

Table 3 .
Summary of Tables1 and 2(Overall Relative Frequency Percentages) Figure 3. Graphical Representation of the Overall Relative Frequency Percentages (ORFP)