Abstract
This paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the third stanza of Nigeria's recently reinstated national anthem, "Nigeria, We Hail Thee." Following its controversial reintroduction in 2024 under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration, the anthem has become a focal point in contemporary national discourse. The aim of this study is to deconstruct the ideological underpinnings of the third stanza through systematic CDA. The methodology employs Fairclough's three-dimensional framework alongside Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics to examine transitivity, modality, and lexical choice. The findings reveal that the stanza constructs a model of citizenship centred on collective labour and religious piety while framing the Nigerian nation as a project requiring divine intervention. The study concludes that the anthem functions as an ideological text for shaping national identity, reflecting both historical aspirations and current political manoeuvres. This research contributes to understanding how linguistic choices in national symbols can serve specific political agendas.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, National Anthem, Nigeria, Ideology, Nation-Building
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2026.v01i02.011
author/EGU Francis Attah, Ph.D., EGU Enyo-Ojo Praise & AWORTU Christianah Charles
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(2) | June 2026
