Interdiscursivity in Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Birthday Tributes on X

This study examined the interdiscursive strategies employed in Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s birthday tributes on X, focusing on how they blend diverse discourses to construct political legitimacy and manage public perception in Nigeria’s digital political landscape. Utilising Fairclough’s (1992) three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research analysed ten purposively sampled tributes from Tinubu’s verified X account, @officialABAT tweeted within the first half of Tinubu’s presidency. The tributes were categorised into four thematic groups according to their dominant discourses, with each text examined at the textual, discursive, and social practice levels. Theme 1 consists of four texts, while Themes 2, 3, and 4 comprise two texts each. The analysis identified seven dominant interwoven discourses —nationalist, heroic, political leadership, relational, human rights, literary, and meritocratic — that strategically extol the virtues of the subjects of the analysed tributes while simultaneously reinforcing Tinubu’s authority and credibility. The study contributes to scholarship on political communication by identifying tributes as a distinct genre through which leaders reproduce dominant ideologies, naturalise authority, and shape collective memory.