Rhetorical Resistance in Nana Akufo Addo’s Speech

Abstract

The yoke of suppression upon the Africans by the European countries has left a permanent scar in the minds of African people for ages. The Europeans have not only invaded the African continent physically but also intruded upon its emotional space by creating the division of colonies for nearly hundred years across the vast land. The African continent abounds; massive resources which, from time to time, have perpetually been exploited by the colonizers from the Europe; not for the sake of the continent people but for fulfillment of the colonizers. This has had a knock-on-effect in every stratum of the African societies-be it cultural, social, economic or political. Ghana, the first country to set free in the sub-Saharan region of Africa against the European colonialism now shows its resistance to the foreign aid. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the resistance of the Ghanaian people rhetorically as the political exhortation to its best, in the speech delivered by Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Nov. 30, 2017, with the unexpected response to the French President, Emmanuel Macron, subverting the notion of colonial mentality that adheres to the hidden agenda of exploitation in a newer version in the name of financial aid. The president wants the youngsters of the continent to change their perspectives and mindsets of dependency only to use their sweat and toil to turn the African continent itself into a paradise. While analyzing this speech, the researcher employs Aristotelian rhetorical devices: Ethos, Logos and Pathos, and explores the underlying linguistic patterns which contribute to making Nana’s verdict so persuasive and moving to his audience. To the author, the President keeps all balance to bring out his thesis throughout the speech by virtue of both verbal and non-verbal sensitivity of his language and becomes one of the most followed leaders of the world.