Papers for Volume 4, No.2
Papers for Volume 4, No.2
OGBAZULUOBODO Volume 4, No. 2 Preliminary Pages
THE DISCOURSE OF NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP IN PITA NWANA’S OMENUKO AND THE CRISES OF INDIGENEITY IN NIGERIA
Abstract
Pita Nwana’s Omenuko is one of the first literary texts that was written and published in black Africa. However, because it was in the indigenous Igbo language, it was not accessible to global readership, until it was translated into the English language in 2014; yet, not much literary critical essays had been written on it. This study intends to investigate the issues of nationality and citizenship as a result of migration of some literary characters in the fictive world of the novel with appropriate legal framework of statutory and constitutional provisions and qualitative research methodology. The study’s findings include that the problems of indigeneity, which has polarized and fragmented the country into ethno-religious-based warring entities in Nigeria are as a result of the policies of the British colonization. Moreover, the terrorist and militant groups that maim and kill citizens in every nook and cranny of the country today are the offshoots of what the novelist, as a prophet, Pita Nwana foresees almost a hundred years ago in his canonical novel. Finally, the study recommends that there is no way the country can experience democratic governance with its outcomes as long as these divisive colonial legacies that survive political decolonization of the country operate, without the governments at all levels making unrelenting efforts to enforce the rights and freedoms of the citizens as provided in the constitution and other municipal, regional and international laws and statutes.
F.O. Orabueze and Chiamaka I. Orabueze
THE RELEVANCE OF SHAKESPEARIAN STUDIES TO THE AFRICAN YOUTHS CULTURE, LITERATURE IN CRISIS PREVENTIONS
Abstract
The paper reveals among others the fundamental teaching of literature, the relevance of Shakespearian studies to the African youth, violence in Shakespeare works, and the theory of universality which is used as the theoretical framework. The work is perceived to solve several youth restiveness, ethnic and religious crisis in Nigeria and the entire African sub-region. This research reveal the importance of the suitable words and approach to solve several social menace/problems in Africa through special orientation for teaming youth population in Africa.
Keywords: Relevance, Shakespeare, African, Youth, Crisis, Prevention
Antonio Friday Onucheyo, Abdulmalik Mohammed Danrukayat, Jimoh Wasiu Jamiyu and Aderonke Modupe Osayande
GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ITS EFFECTS ON YOUNG WOMEN IN NIGERIA: A HUMAN RIGHTS ANALYSIS
Abstract
The recent report by the International Labour Organization shows that the youth labour force (aged 15–24) has significantly declined. At the same time, the participation of young women in the labour market has remained lower than that of young men in sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, in Nigeria, 31% are unemployed, compared to 26% of young men yet, Nigeria is a party to international treaties that guarantee equal rights to employment. Also in Section 17 (3) of the Constitution, the Nigerian government undertakes to direct its policies to ensure equal opportunity for employment. However, several factors—statutory, social, and cultural—have impeded the realization of equal rights to employment in Nigeria. While these issues are collectively important, this paper focuses on the statutory factors that create gender discrimination in youth employment in Nigeria. It argues that the non-enforceability of Section 17(3) of the Constitution and the non-domestication of the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have substantially contributed to this gender disparity. As such, there is a strong need to assess the possibility of recalling lawmakers who oppose the domestication of CEDAW in Nigeria. As a result, it concludes that relevant stakeholders must focus on mobilizing electorates in relevant constituencies to ensure that lawmakers who oppose CEDAW domestication are recalled in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.
Keywords: Gender discrimination, Young women, Unemployment, and Human Rights.
Fochi Amabilis Nwodo and Chibike Oraeto Amucheazi
LEADERSHIP VALUES AND YOUTH CRISES IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF EMEKA NWABUEZE’S ECHOES OF MADNESS AND A PARLIAMENT OF VULTURES
Abstract
The popular statement that youths are the power house of every nation is becoming delusional in the present day Nigeria; not with the recent inconsistencies in behavioural displays being recorded among the youths. Indeed, there is a close link between the values a society is known for and the values manifested by its leaders. Public perception of government in Nigeria is that of a nation that has been grossly affected by bribery, corruption, scandals, and wrong impression for wealth acquisition. In a situation like this, cynicism and wariness tend to replace confidence and trust. Everyone is affected by this trend especially the youths who usually learn by observation. As such, they are left with little or no option than to follow the footsteps of their leaders. The current relegation of governance to private business by some Nigerian leaders precipitates the need for this study. The paper is anchored on the social learning theory of Albert Bandura which suggests that behaviour is influenced by observations of models within the environment. The study, which is qualitative in nature, explores the effects of leadership values on the behavioural crisis of Nigerian youths as portrayed in Emeka Nwabueze’s Echoes of Madness and A Parliament of Vultures. The paper observes that activities of the ruling class are not impacting positively on Nigerian youths and recommends that cubing the youth crisis in Nigerian will yield better fruits when leaders and those in authority model positive values in their day to day activities.
Keywords: Leadership, Youth crisis, Values, Observation, modelling.
Aghamelu Helen Udumaga
WOMEN IN THE LITERARY DREAM OF NGUGI WA THIONG’O: GENDER PORTRAITURE AND FEMALE REVOLUTIONARIES IN DEVIL ON THE CROSS
Abstract
The trajectory in the portrayal of heroism by Ngugi wa Thiong’o began with his first late fiction. His massive affinity to strong female characters becomes the new paradigm that defines his latest narratives subsequently, complementing his total embossment of Gikuyu orature in his fictions after 1980. Ngugi introduces a women-driven revolution using a strong female character that is determined to fight capitalism and its enablers in the fictional country of Ilmorog. Using Devil on the Cross, Ngugi’s first standard novel written in his native G(K)ikuyu language, this study attempts to portray woman power that is strictly intentional and enigmatic. Ngugi presents his women as remaining thorough in their revolutionist outlook even at the point they decide to bolster the role. Using the Jungian Theory of archetypes, this work attempts to establish the larger-than-life personality of Ngugi’s heroine indicative of his frantic expectation of the brutal cleansing of the post-independent Africa, and a total wipe-off of neocolonization from the streets of Africa. He inaugurates this fantastical revolutionist approach with the introduction of an elderly woman, Wangari as part of a collective unconscious that must bring to fruition the redemption of the continent by all means. A textual analysis of Devil on the Cross illuminates the spontaneous tendency of Wariinga who quickly transforms from a bride to an assailant; typical of the woman of Ngugi’s literary dream, at a time it is most needed.
Keywords: Revolutionary agents, Gender portraiture, Feminist writing, Collective unconscious, Jungian theory of archetypes
Ifeoma Catherine Onwugbufor
PARADOX OF GENTLE VIOLENCE OF NIGER-DELTA YOUTHS IN CHIMEKA GARRICKS TOMORROW DIED YESTERDAY
Abstract
Findings revealed that there are cases of incessant killings, cataclysmic oil spillage, drug abuse, cankerous air pollution, and ferocious brutality by armed officers on the people of Niger Delta which the higher-ups turned a blind eye to it. This lingered on till the Youths ganged up to form a militant group with a focus on kidnapping white expatriates for ransom which is normally paid off from the oil money. Comparing the non-violent End SARS Protest which the government responded to with brutality and the violent sit-at-home rules which the government responded to with a forced obedience, one can vividly see that violence engenders change unlike the fruitlessness of peaceful negotiations. The crisis is an inevitable phenomenon, it has existed, is still existing and will persist as long as there are living beings on the planet. It is something that cannot be separated from the human race. This paper x-rays The Paradox of Gentle Violence of Niger-Delta Youths in Chimeka Garricks’ Tomorrow Died Yesterday. It explores how disillusioned and abandoned the youths felt that they resorted to violence which they perceived to be the best approach. The study hinges on Psychoanalytic theory which serves as the theoretical framework for this paper. The Youths were constrained by the system, a future killing system that killed their tomorrow, a system that gives no room for their development rather only on the enrichment of nation’s pockets. The researcher concludes by calling a motion for Gentle violence which will hopefully effect desirable changes on the situation of things in the country. That gentle form of violence which strikes a balance between compassion and toughness is really required. It advocates that citizens be tough to tough situations and soft to soft situations, toughness is not requires in all situation and vice versa.
Keywords: Gentle Violence, Youth Crises, Niger-Delta, Oppression, Disillusionment
Mirian O. Igboamalu and Ephraim C. Nwangwu
VIOLENCE IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA: A READING OF OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE’S MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER
Abstract
Violence has a lot of offshoots but the type represented in Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer explains how violence is etched on the mind of a child who has witnessed and suffered different forms of violence by her father and who grows up to challenge and kill any man who as much as raises his voice at her. Braithwaite through her writing explains the part played by social media in aiding to the faster spreading of information which though an advantage can also be a demerit. In the text, Ayoola and Korede’s father’s death is finally announced by members of his family after they have exhaled the collective breath they have held for a long time due to the violence meted out to them by their patriarch. In later years, when Ayoola becomes the abuser, her victims did not stand that chance because as soon as Korede finishes cleaning up and disposing of the body of one of her sister’s victims, the missing body becomes a hashtag on Instagram. Photos and videos Ayoola posted on Instagram further help investigators in identifying and connecting her victims. This article sets out to look at how children react to violence as adults and the way social media help to further spread the news about issues that certain units will rather be left hidden. It will achieve this by showing different reactions to violence by analyzing My Sister, the Serial Killer through the lens of Trauma Theory which will further reveal the state of the characters’ psyche while handling violent situations.
Keywords: Violence, Abuse, Social Media, Hashtag, Trauma, Victim, Patriarchy.
Somtochukwu Janefrances Metu
IDENTITY CRISIS AND THE SOCIAL REALITY OF MAGICAL THOUGHT: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF OKRI’S THE FAMISHED ROAD
Abstract
The question of identity remains a controversial issue of post colonialism. One distinguishing characteristic of Nigeria’s return to civil rule is frequent civil strives, economic crises and conflicts. As a postcolonial novel, Okri’s The Famished Road exposes the condition of identity crisis that emerged in postcolonial period. The language of the text gives elaborate explanation of anguished concern with existence and a desire for articulation of singular freedom. However, Okri uses language in its social context not only to reconfigure the nation - state as an abiku child but also to present the abiku phenomenon as the logic of history, time and beginning. Using Norman Fairclough’s module of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) which examines language of texts to deconstruct the essential postulations of power, dominance and inequality that work harmoniously to give meaning to texts, the research reveals that violent history of Nigeria brings about identity crisis and existential angst, and that the empirical validity of magical thoughts are real in their consequences for individual lives and society. It concludes that as Okri asserts Nigeria’s identity in his own terms and push back against western ideas of what Nigerian culture is, he nonetheless creates a new African identity that is not only political but also spiritual.
Keywords: Identity crisis, post colonialism, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), abiku.
Emmanuela Uzoma Asadu, Victor Chinedu Asadu and Ifeyinwa David-Ojukwu
CONNECTING MISBEHAVIOUR OF AFRICAN YOUTHS TO MOVIES: EXPERIENCES FROM NIGERIA IN VIEW OF THE NFVCB ACT
Abstract
Sight is one of the major senses in the body. It is commonly said that people become what they behold. This underscores the importance of films, videos and cinemas which have become part of daily realities that are seen. Everyone watches films and videos as they are generally entertaining, educative, and relaxing, but could also incite. Youths spend most of their time on them, and thus are the most influenced. This is evident in their way of life as they choose role models from among their favourite actors and actresses, copying their life styles and mannerisms. Africa is a youthful continent with Nigeria ranking first in terms of youthful population. This offers opportunities for development while posing challenges. The opportunities can only be exploited when the youths are caught young. One of the ways of doing this is by ensuring that they watch the right films. This necessitates the adoption of censoring laws which in Nigeria is the National Film and Video Censors Board Act. It classifies all films and videos whether locally produced or imported, setting criteria for licensing. Employing doctrinal methodology, using primary and secondary data sources, this study examines the National Film and Video Censors Board Act and its influence on the youths in the light of norms encapsulated in the constitutionally recognized national motto and ethics. While applauding the Act, the researchers find that National Film and Video Censors Board possesses less stringent standard that promotes lack of implementation. The study recommends further strengthening and full implementation.
Keywords: Experiences, Misbehaviours, Movies, NFVCB Act, Nollywood and Youths.
Uju Peace Okeke and Akachi Lynda Nwogu-Ikojo
OLD TRADITION IN NEW FORM: SIDE CHICK TREND IN NIGERIAN SPACE THROUGH THE LENS OF TWO PLAYS
Abstract
This paper examines the side chick phenomenon and its impact in the society and the family space. Before the emergence of the slang side chick, names like mistress, paramour and concubine have been in existence. From the pre biblical era to the present, extra marital affairs and transactional relationships have continued to generate many discourses, but not much have been written from the perspective of side chick syndrome which has assumed a new garb in the contemporary time. Findings show that side chickism as a phenomenon is fast gaining ground and wider acceptance and the desire to curtail it, reinforced this discourse. Currently, there has been a lot of hue and cry over the deteriorating moral value of people especially young women globally. The paper seeks to examine the prevalence of this phenomenon and its antecedent consequences in Nigerian setting the syndrome, which is one of the trending pop cultures is destroying many relationships and generating several issues of domestic violence, health related challenges and socio-economic upheavals. The paper is predicated on the theoretical framework of Relative deprivation theory, and adopts content analysis methodology for the analysis of Emeka Nwabueze’s A Dance of the Dead and Spokesman for the Oracle. The paper concludes that side chick has negative impact on families and society in general, and recommends that the Nigerian government should initiate bills and sign them into law, which will aim at curtailing the activities of side chicks and at the same time, make available advocacy groups whose jobs will be to sensitize the youths especially young girls and ladies on the negative impact of side chickism, with a view to curtail the threats that this old tradition in new form poses to the Nigerian society and the global community.
Keywords: Side chick, Menace, transactional sex, 21st Century, Infidelity, Wife, side guy
Cindy Anene Ezeugwu, Ikechukwu Erojikwe and Oguejiofor Victor Omeje
YOUTHS SOCIAL MEDIA VENTING: A DISCOURSE-ANALYTICAL READING OF A SELECTED COMMUNICATION POSTED ON FACEBOOK ON FEBRUARY 27, 2022.
Abstract
There is no doubt that the emergence of the social media, especially within the last two decades, has significantly elevated social communications and interpersonal relationships across the globe. The social media, strictly conceived as that modality that facilitates social communications through a global linkage of families, friends, and fresh acquaintances, has more than anything else, given energy to the idea of a global village. Whereas families waited for weeks and, sometimes, months to communicate with family members through the now obsolete letter-writing tradition, the social media has fundamentally reduced the time-element in interpersonal and group communications. In recent times, the province of the social media has continued to expand. Among the most popular units of the social media are Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Tik-Tok, Tweeter, among several others. In Nigeria, the social media network has become very popular, especially among the younger generation. Young people now grow up in a world where social media is part of the normal fabrics of life. Most of the social practices which previously occurred in face-to-face interactions are becoming popular too in the social media. Sadly, in spite of the numerous advantages attributed to the social media, this contemporary outlet for social communication has been subjected to various forms of abuse that are extremely unhealthy to the society. In particular, the social network platform called Facebook, appears to be the most popular amongst the younger generation of Nigerians. In the context of the usage of Facebook in Nigeria, many young people have been identified as having an obsession with the use of uncouth and gutter idioms. In this study, then, I have elected to focus on communications from Facebook. The aim is to establish how language use on Facebook is capable of inciting social conflicts across ethnic and religious fronts. The study becomes necessary since we live in a highly volatile nation often marked with ethnic and religious crises. The specific focus of the present study is the language deployed by one Mr. Isa Bayero to vent his emotions, bitterness, and apparent anger in a written communication. The data was collected from the Facebook wall of an online media, SpyNigeria.NG, on the 27th day of February, 2022. SpyNigeria.NG is reputed for carrying out views and reactions from Nigerian youths in their online news platform. Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory and Van Djik’s critical discourse theory served as analytical approaches to the study.
Keywords: Youths, social media, Facebook, Nigeria, crisis.
Obiageli Christiana Okpala
THE REPRESENTATION OF YOUTH CRISES IN AFRICAN THEATRE
Abstract
Youth crises are not only hybrid-headed but also universal. It is the situation when young people undergo difficulties beyond their control culminating to lack of hope, anxiety, confusion and desperation. Youth crises ranges from youth unemployment or underemployment, inappropriate skill or lack of it, inaccessibility to financial assistant and total absence of governmental policies for their social and economic well-being. Youth are said to be the leaders of tomorrow. But unfortunately, this axiom is far from reality in this part of the clime because no solid foundation has been laid towards its realization. Successive governments in Nigeria had only paid lip service to issues/programs that ought to avert youth crises. This has led to youth crises in Nigeria. The aim of the study, therefore, is to interrogate this situation and how these crises are represented in the African theatre using the Theatre for Development approach.
Keywords: Theatre, social order, theatre for development, youth, crisis.