A Rhetorical Analysis of Yoruba Traditional Oratory in Contemporary Chieftaincy Installations

Traditional oratory at Yoruba chieftaincy installation ceremonies represents one of the most elaborate public rhetorical performances in Yoruba cultural life, combining political legitimation, ancestral invocation, historical recitation, and community identity affirmation. This study conducts a rhetorical analysis of Yoruba traditional oratory performed at chieftaincy installation ceremonies in selected communities in Ogun, Oyo, and Ondo States, South West Nigeria. Using an oral performance ethnography design, data were collected through audio-visual recording and transcription of oratories performed at six installation ceremonies, supplemented by interviews with royal court orators and cultural historians. The study applies classical African rhetoric theory, oral formulaic theory, and ethnorhetoric to analyse the structural composition, performance conventions, formulaic language, and social functions of installation oratory. Existing scholarship on Yoruba oral performance has focused heavily on oriki and folktale, with chieftaincy installation oratory as a distinct performative genre receiving limited dedicated rhetorical analysis. This study fills that genre gap. The research examines how orators construct the legitimacy of the new chief, integrate praise of ancestors and living notables, navigate potentially sensitive genealogical narratives, and deploy humour, proverbial wisdom, and historical allusion in service of ceremonial rhetorical goals. Findings are expected to reveal a sophisticated oral rhetorical tradition with distinct structural conventions adapted flexibly to the specific political and cultural context of each installation ceremony. Recommendations will address the documentation and academic study of Yoruba traditional oratory and its value as a resource for rhetoric education. Keywords: rhetorical analysis, Yoruba oratory, chieftaincy installation, oral performance, traditional governance.