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Genre and Persuasion: Rhetorical Structure of Online Editorials on the Nigerian Tax Reform Acts of 2025

Published
Pages 165-173
Views 57
Downloads 123

Authors

  • Samuel Oyeyemi Agbeleoba Department of English and Literary Studies Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti Author
  • BAMISAYE Toyin Professor, Department of English and Literary Studies Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti Ekiti State, Nigeria Author
  • Janet Olufunke Bello Department of Languages, Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Author

DOI

https://doi.org/10.55640/ijssll-06-03-11 ↗

Abstract

This article examines the rhetorical structures and persuasive strategies employed in online editorials addressing Nigeria's Tax Reform Acts of 2025. Using Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) as the analytical framework, the study analyzes three editorials from major Nigerian news outlets to identify how genre conventions and rhetorical relations construct persuasive arguments about fiscal policy. The findings reveal that editorials employ distinct rhetorical patterns that combine problem-solution structures with evidence-based argumentation, strategically positioning tax reform as either an economic necessity, a social imperative, or a technical modernization. The study demonstrates that RST provides a systematic approach to understanding how editorials organize discourse to achieve persuasive purposes within the public sphere, contributing to broader understanding of editorial genre conventions in policy discourse.

Keywords

Rhetorical Structure Theory , editorial genre , persuasion , tax reform , discourse analysis , Nigerian media

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References

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2. Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society (T. Burger, Trans.). MIT Press. (Original work published 1962)

3. Hou, S., Liu, X., & Zhang, Y. (2020). Rhetorical structure theory: A comprehensive review of discourse organization. Expert Systems with Applications, 150, 113281.

4. Le, E. (2009). Editorials' genre and media roles: Le Monde's editorials from 1999 to 2001. Journal of Pragmatics, 41(9), 2025-2040.

5. Mann, W. C., & Thompson, S. A. (1987). Rhetorical structure theory: A theory of text organization. ISI/RS-87-190. Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California.

6. Nikonova, Y. (2023). Editorial as a discursive genre. Nauchnyi Dialog, 12(4), 45-62.

7. PwC Nigeria. (2025, June 27). The Nigerian Tax Reform Acts. Retrieved from https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/publications/the-nigerian-tax-reform-acts.html

8. Wornyo, A. A. (2022). Rhetorical strategy preferences in newspaper editorials. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10(8), 35-52.

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