PROFESSOR MUHAMMED-BADAR SALIHU JIBRIN DELIVERS 28TH INAUGURAL LECTURE OF PRINCE ABUBAKAR AUDU UNIVERSITY, ANYIGBA
…Traces the Evolution from Stylolinguistic Domestication to Systemic Text Linguistics in Nigerian Literary Text Analysis
Professor of Stylistics and Text Linguistics, Professor Muhammed-Badar Salihu Jibrin, has called for a critical reflection on inherited theoretical frameworks to adopt context-sensitive, systemic text-linguistic approaches that respond effectively to Nigerian literary expression.
He made the call while delivering the 28th Inaugural Lecture of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, titled “From Stylolinguistic Domestication to Systemic Text Linguistics: A Journey Through the Sphere of Nigerian Literary Text Analysis,” on Tuesday, 22nd September, 2026, at the University Auditorium.
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Prof. Jibrin explained extensively that style and stylistics have historically attracted multiple definitions, creating a methodological puzzle regarding how writers’ choices and functions ought to be analyzed within specific social contexts.
He noted that Nigerian literature represents a rich body of experiences, histories, cultures, identities, and worldviews, making it essential that the analytical tools and theories used are sufficiently sensitive to local linguistic and cultural realities.
The Inaugural Lecturer maintained that language is both a system and a resource for meaning-making, asserting that stylistics must examine not only what choice a writer makes, but also why that choice is made and what function it performs.
He stressed that the language question in Nigerian literature highlights how English, despite initial cultural mismatches, can be nativized and adapted to carry the weight of African and Nigerian experiences.
Discussing findings from past research on Chukwuemeka Ike’s Our Children Are Coming, Prof. Jibrin highlighted how devices such as parallelism, coinages (e.g., “Whitemail,” “Youthquake,” “Kwashiorkor,” “Chop-Chop Mentality”), collocations, names, and titles were utilized to expose human apostasy and societal vices.
He noted that while stylistic devices and collocations effectively project moral decay, hypocrisy, and corruption, they also reflect resistance, reform, and the creative prowess of Nigerian writers using English as a second language.
On the analysis of Olu Obafemi’s Wheels, the Inaugural Lecturer revealed how nativization, code-mixing, lexical repetition, and character-based speech allow English to surrender to modification by oral traditions, accommodating Afro-Nigerian thought processes and worldviews.
He emphasised that linguistic choices across texts reflect the social conditions and dialects of the people, demonstrating that nativized English acts as a flexible medium capable of carrying African thought and culture.
On systemic text-linguistics, Prof. Jibrin reported how applying M.A.K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Beaugrande & Dressler’s Seven Standards of Textuality provides a functional approach to analyzing texts as unified semantic units within specific context levels.
The Inaugural Lecturer highlighted the analytical procedure of Adejare’s model, noting how analyzing literary texts at the Primitive, Prime Order, and Second Order levels enables researchers to decode meaning from basic linguistic choices up to complex, fictionalized social situations.
On the broader application of text linguistics, Prof. Jibrin demonstrates how systematic analysis across literary idiolects (single authors) and literary dialects (multiple authors) reveals shared language patterns, unifying meaning across diverse texts.
While proposing for a comprehensive Systemic Text-Linguistic approach, Prof. Jibrin explained that it rests on key pillars: Textuality (Cohesion, Coherence, Intentionality, Acceptability, Informativity, Situationality, Intertextuality), Regulative Principles (Efficiency, Effectiveness, Appropriateness), Semiotic Variations (Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics), Levels of Meaning Projection, and Contextual Functionality.
He explained that academic scholarship must move beyond rigid Western paradigms toward context-sensitive frameworks that enrich classroom practice, curriculum development, and language education.
The Inaugural Lecturer argued that text and system are inseparable in the study of language, ensuring that theoretical scholarship remains closely linked to functional communication and cultural identity.
He proposed that indigenous expressions, loan words, discourse particles, and local varieties of English be recognized and prioritized as vital tools for authentic literary expression and cultural preservation.
He stressed that language analysis cannot be reduced to abstract grammatical correctness, but must serve as a vehicle to understand human experience, foster linguistic confidence, and promote national heritage.
In his address, the Vice-Chancellor of Prince Abubakar Audu University (PAAU), Professor Salisu Ogbo Usman represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Rufai Sani Abdullahi described the 28th Inaugural Lecture as a significant institutional milestone in the university’s commitment to rigorous scholarship and intellectual engagement.
Prof. Usman noted that the lecture traced an important intellectual journey from borrowed stylistic paradigms to systemic, context- sensitive text linguistics, describing the topic as highly relevant to contemporary scholarship and humanity.
He congratulated Prof. Jibrin on his scholarly accomplishments and commended him for addressing the critical connection between language, cultural identity, and knowledge production.
He noted that bridging the gap between theoretical frameworks and local realities is a vital intellectual responsibility, emphasizing that scholarship must travel beyond lecture halls to serve humanity and inform public appreciation of Nigerian literature.
Prof. Usman added that the lecture offered valuable perspectives for educators, policymakers, and researchers as the university continues to promote knowledge production, preservation, and application.
He reaffirmed the University’s endless commitment to sustaining rigorous research, teaching excellence, and purposeful knowledge dissemination across all disciplines.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the inaugural lecture certificate, plaque, and medal to the Inaugural Lecturer.
The lecture attracted members of the University Governing Council, members of Management and Senate, academic and non-teaching staff members, students, traditional and religious rulers and other distinguished guests from within and outside the University community.
Uredo Omale,
Director, Public Affairs,
Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
DemocracyNewslineNewspaper September 23, 2026
