THIRD TOYIN FALOLA ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA (TOFAC 2013)

[Toyin Falola]

…Here is a draft to facilitate travel plans. The contact person is Dr Doyin Aguoru
<doyina...@gmail.com> to which all requests should be directed.






THIRD TOYIN FALOLA ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
(TOFAC 2013)


THEME

Ethnicity, Race and Place in Africa and the African Diaspora

HOST
Lead City University, Ibadan


IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
ALL CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS TO NOTE !!!
Accreditation of Participants: From Sunday 30th June on arrival - 8.00pm at the Conference Secretariat; and Monday 1st July on arrival at the Conference Venue.
The Venue for the Opening Ceremony; All Keynote Lectures will hold in the Main Hall.
Three Parallel Sessions will hold each day. The venues are Emerald I,II &III
TIME MANAGEMENT IS VITAL
(Conference Participants are advised to strictly keep to time)



Breakfast is from 7.00am each day

Tea/Coffee Break duration is 15 minutes.

Lunch is 45 mins. (Max)

DAY 1: MONDAY, JUNE 1st

9.30am- 9.45- Welcome address Vice-Chancellor LCU Prof. Olufemi Onabajo

10.15-10.30- Introduction & Citation on Keynote Speakers :Prof Ayo Olukotun


1. 10.30am - 11.20am Conference First Keynote by Prof. Moses Ochonu, Vanderbilt University
11.25am - 12.05pm. Conference Second Keynote by Prof. Tunde Bewaji, University of the
West Indies.

12.05pm - 12.35 am. Tea/Coffee Break



12.35 pm - 1.35pm Opening Ceremony
- The National Anthem
Welcome Address by the Convener, Coordinator, Ibadan Cultural Studies Group (ICSG), University of Ibadan, and Chairman, TOFAC Board – Prof Ademola O. Dasylva.

Welcome Address by the Chief Host of TOFAC 2013, Chairman of Council, Lead City University Prof. Jide Owoeye


Introduction of Prof. Toyin Falola (Honoree & Special Guest of TOFAC)

Remarks/ Open Declaration TOFAC 2013 : the Special Guest of Honour, The Executive Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Senator Abiola Ajimobi

Formal transfer of the TOFAC Plaque to Lead City University, current Host/Sponsors of TOFAC 2012 by the Special Guest of Honour, The Executive Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Senator Abiola Ajimobi



ICSG/TOFAC AWARDS
Citation on Recipients by Dr. Doyin Aguoru, University of Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria.


Tea-Coffee Break -1.40pm

2.15pm - 2.55pm. Cultural Performance

3.00pm.-3.45pm.......LUNCH

TOFAC 2013 PANELS
DAY 1: EVENING SESSION
3.50pm - 5.50pm
Panel A.1 Ethnicity and Politics
Venue: EMERALD 1;
Chair: Dr.Oluwatoyin A. Asojo, Baylor College of Medicine Houston Texas
i, Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999- 2011).Michael Abiodun Oni (Ph.D), Aaron Ola Ogundiwin (Ph.D) and Chibuzor Ayodele Nwaodi, Babcock University.
ii, Ethnicty and The Nigerian Civil War. Omoregie Pat Iziengbe, University of Ibadan.
iii. Political Parties and Ethnicity in Nigeria: a Review.Adeyemi, O. Oluwatobi, Obafemi Awolowo University and Oyeleye Olukayode, Centre for Organisational and Professional Ethics (Cope-Africa).
iv. Ethnic Nationalism, Religious Fundamentalism and Federalism in Nigeria.Olaniyan Vic Modesola, Obafemi Awolowo University
v. A Historical Analysis of Ethnic Militancy and its Effect on National Integration in Nigeria. Adedipe Adesoji and Omoregie Pat Iziengbe, University of Ibadan.
vi. Politicised Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria Omotuyi Sunday, Obafemi Awolowo University.

DAY 1: EVENING SESSION 3.50pm - 5.50pm

PANEL A2: Humanistic Portrayals of Ethnic Identities
EMERALD 2
Chair: Prof.Anyaduba, Chigbo Arthur, Obafemi Awolowo University.

i, Ethnicity and the Market Metaphor in Nigerian Literature. Solomon Iguanre (Backock University) and Mark Ighile (Ph.D) Redeemer’s University.
ii. Performing Ethnicity and the Ghettoisation of the Nigerian Theatre: Three Playwrights in Focus. Israel Meriomame Wekpe, University of Benin.
iii, The Interplay of Law and Equity in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God

Olubukola Olugasa, Babcock University.
iv, Postcolonialism and Socio-Political Development in Africa: Learning Through the
Literary Eyes of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Adam, Ezinwanyi E. Phd, Babcock University.
v, Home, Exile and Imagination in Toyin Falola’s and Vivel Bahl’s Scoundrel of Deferral
Azeez Akinwumi Sesan, Al- Hikmah University

vi, The Environment and Politics: A Reading of Tanure Ojaide’s The Tale of the Harmattan Shittu Toyin Al- Hikmah University, Ilorin , Kwara State







DAY 1: EVENING SESSION 3.50pm - 5.50pm
PANEL A3:Identity and Cultural Diversity
Venue:EMERALD3

Chair: Kunirum Osia, Coppin State University, USA
i, The Third World and Crisis of Identity. Ogbonnaya, Ufiem Maurice, National Institute for Legislative Studies National Assembly, Abuja

ii, The Discourse of Race and African Identities as a Tenet for Intertextuality: a Study of Camara Laye’s Radiance of the King. Akinwande, Bankole Idowu, Adeyemi College of Education.

iii. “ To Become a Man is Not a Day Job”: ‘Small Boy’ Domestic Servants in Colonial Nigeria

Uyilawa Usuanlele, State University of New York.
iv. Beyond Intractability, Ethnicity, Nationality Identities and the Crisis of the African State.Dr. Kehinde Olayode , Obafemi Awolowo University.
v, Mental Alienation and African Identity: Exploring Historical Perspectives in Response to the Crisis of African Societies. Eegunlusi Tayo Raymond Ezekiel, Federal University of Technology, Akure.
vi. Cultural Diversity and The Challenge of Intra-Racial Conflict in Nigeria. Mashood Omotosho Ph.D, Obafemi Awolowo University.




6.00 pm. - DINNER


DAY 2, 2nd July 2013

MORNING SESSION
(9.00am - 11.00am)

PANEL B.1: BIOGRAPHICAL WRITING AS ETHNIC IDENTITY
Venue: : EMERALD 1
Chair: Remy Oriaku, PhD, University of Ibadan.

i, Racial and Ethnic Politics in Autobiographies: a reading of Martin Luther King(Jr)'s The Autobiography of Martin Luther King and Nasir El Rufai's The Accidental Public Servant. Oreofe Awokoya , Olabisi Onabanjo University.
ii, Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country: A Personal Account of Biafra and the Politics of Tribal Spokesmanship. Banire Abiodun, University of Ibadan.
iii. Race and Place as Ethnic Identity in Toyin Falola’s Memoir. Dr. Doyin Aguoru, University of Ibadan.
iv. Wole Soyinka's Voyage, Isara, and Life Writing. Adetayo Alabi, Ph.D, University of Mississippi
v, Memory and the Construction of National Consciousness: Memoir as Counter-Narrative in Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country. Anyaduba, Chigbo Arthur, Obafemi Awolowo University.
vi. Racism, Pan-Africanism and Memory of Historical Injustices: The Autobiographical Musings of Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah. Mr. David Ekanem Udoinwang, National Productivity Centre, Abuja.
vii. A Socio-Literary Interpretation of Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck and its Implications for Contemporary Nigerian Society. Mark Ighile, Redeemer's University
viii, Metaphors of Nation and War in Achebe’s There Was A Country Onwu Inya , Federal University of Technology, Akure.
ix A Literary Reading of Achebe’s There Was A Country: A Personal Story of Biafra

Ogunduyile Abimbola, Federal University of Technology Akure




DAY 2: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Morning Session
(9.00 am – 11:00 am)

PANEL B.2: Ethnicity, Identity and Contemporary Media
Venue: : EMERALD 2
Chair: Dr. Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe, Obafemi Awolowo University


i, Culture and Nigerian Identity in the Print Media. Mrs. Nwaolikpe, Onyinyechi Nancy, Babcock University
ii, Cyber-Activism and Social Network Media: Appropriating the Emerging Platform to Promoting Nation-Building and Peace. Adefolarin .A. Olamilekan , University Of Abuja.
iii. The Role of the Social Media in sustaining the African Identity. Babafemi Jacobs B.sc (Mass Comm.), Csc (Customer Service), GNIPR, Lead City University, Ibadan.
iv Ethnic Music: a Tool for Unity .Oladipo Olufunmilola Temitayo, Adeyemi College of Education.
v, Ethnic Loyalty in Selected Nigeria Video Drama: a Legal Approach. Niyi Adebanjo (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University.
vi . Ad/Dressing Ethnicity in Nigerian Theatre. Patricia Owens Oni-Edigin and Israel Meriomame Wekpe, University of Benin



DAY 2: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Morning Session
(9.00 am – 11:00 am)

PANEL B. 3. Religion, Religious Conflict and Resolution
Venue:EMERALD3

Chair: Dr. Mashood Omotosho, Obafemi Awolowo University.


i, Recipe for Religious Crises in Nigeria. Dr. Adefarasin, V.O., Olabisi Onabanjo University.
ii, The Aladura Movement in Western Nigeria: Authentically Christian, Authentically African. Moses Oludele Idowu, President, Artillery Christian Foundation
iii. Government involvement in Religious Pilgrimage in a Secular State: It’s Implications and Interpretations in Nigeria. Professor Rotimi Omotoye, University of Ilorin.

iv. The Ethno Religious Dimensions of The 2011 Election and its Roles in the Post Election Violence. Lucky Igohosa, UGBUDIAN, French Institute for Research in Africa
v, Religion & Trust as Challenges to Inter-Personal & Inter-Group Cooperation in Africa.Ohiro Oni-Eseleh , A Psychotherapist, New York
vi. Religious Conflicts and the Rise of Islamism in Nigeria. Omolara Akinyemi, Obafemi Awolowo University.
vii, The Nexus between Ethnic and Religious Conflicts in Transitional Democratic Society. Animashaun Rofiah, Olateju, University of Ibadan
11.05am - 11.35am TEA/COFFEE BREAK

11.35-12.20 Conference Third Keynote Address by Prof. Ken Harrow,
Michigan State University






DAY 2: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(12:20 pm– 2.20 pm)


Panel C. 1: Re- thinking Slavery and Colonialism

Venue: : EMERALD 1
Chair: Dr. Henry J. Grubb, University of Dubuque

i, (Re)-Emergence of Slavery in 21st Century: A Reading of Chika Unigwe’s on Black Sisters’ Street and Ifeanyi Ajaegbo’s Sarah House. Akinyele, Akinbimpe Akintayo, University of Ibadan.
ii, Colonialism: An Impediment to the Development of Home Grown Business. Kehinde O. Ola and David O. Oke, Samuel Adegboyega University.
iii. Colonising the image: The African Ape and Savagism in the work of Eugene O’Neil. Amon Saba Saakana, ph.D., Tacarigua Delivery office College of Science, Technology & Applied Arts Tacarigua Trinidad & Tobago (CoSTAATT).
iv. Imperialism and Religious Intolerance: The Suppression of Early Prophetic Movements in Colonial Nigeria. Moses Oludele Idowu, President, Artillery Christian Foundation
v, Post- Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Africa and African Diaspora: Perspectives on Religious Traditions’ Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages.Ibigbolade Aderibigbe (University of Georgia) and Adepeju Johnson-Bashua Phd (Lagos State University).
vi. Colonial Urban Centers, Economic Security, Identity Bonding and the Emergence of Ethnic Associations in Nigeria: 1920 to 1960. Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee and Alozie Bright Chiazam, University of Nigeria















DAY 2: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(12:20 pm– 2.20 pm)

PANEL C 2: Ethnic History and Philosophy

Venue: : EMERALD 2

Chair: Dr. Kairn A. Klieman, University of Houston.


i, Nigeria and the Road to Kigali: A Historical View from the Python’s Eyes. Akubor Emmanuel Osewe (Ph.D), Zaria.
ii, Resistance Through a Letter: Ex British Southern Cameroons Exiles Imagine Freedom and Independence. Fonkem Achankeng I, University of Winconsin.(Ph.d)
iii. Selected Readings in the History of Science and British Colonial West Africa. Daniel Jean-Jacques,University of Texas
iv. Congo, Solibo and Scratch: (Re)placing Africa in Patrick Chamoiseau’s Solibo Magnificent. Kayode Omoniyi Ogunfolabi, Obafemi Awolowo University.
v, An African Cultural Philosophy for Global Change. Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi, Ph.D, University of Abuja.

vi. Whiteness, Distance, and Hospitability in Luanda. Dr. Madalina Florescu, Centro de Estudos Africanos Universidade do Porto, Portugal.

vii, Sporting Diaspora: Nigerian Boxers in Liverpool, 1940-1970“



Michael Gennaro, University of Florida







DAY 2: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(12:20 pm– 2.20 pm)
PANEL C.3: Governance and Politics

Venue: : EMERALD 3
Chair: Dr. Lawrence O. Bamikole University of The West Indies

i, Building Coalitions for Good Governance in Nigeria: a Myth or Reality. Ajani Oludele Albert( Phd), Obafemi Awolowo University


ii, Influence of Security Threats on Nigeria’s Ethno-Electoral Contest: Appraisal of Fourth Republic. Godwin Ihemeje, Obafemi Awolowo University.
iii. Multicultural Conflicts and Nigeria’s Transitional Democracy (1999 - 2007).Olufade, Adenike Olufunke (Member Apcon, Nimn, Spsp), University of Ibadan.
iv. Along Ethnicity or Religion, the Evolution of Good Governance in Africa? Ijaola, Samson Oluwatope, Samuel Adegboyega University
v, The Dysfunctional Interplay Between Health, Ethnicity, Religion and Underdevelopment in Nigeria. Oluwatoyin A. Asojo PhD, Baylor College of Medicine Houston Texas.
vi. Effort and Effect in the 2012 Edo State Gubernatorial Election. A.M. Aikoriogie, University of Benin
vii. Ethnic Politics and Elections in Africa: a Paradox. Dr.Osezua, Ehiyamen Mediayanose, Osun State University.


2.20pm - 3.00pm- LUNCH


DAY 2 (Tuesday 03/07/2012); Evening Session. 3.00pm - 4.25pm


PANEL D.1 Linguistic and Cultural Identity
Venue: EMERALD 1
Chair: Mark Ighile, Redeemer's University

i, Language and Cross-Cultural Solidarity in Northern Nigeria and the Southern Parts of Lake Chad and Niger Republic. Olubunmi Ogunseye Adebayo, Obafemi Awolowo University.
ii, Shortage of African American Teachers in the Public Schools in the United States: What can be Done About it?Queen Ogbomo,Ph.D, Tennessee Technological University.
iii. A Sociological Assessment of Causes and Losses of Negative Expressions of Ethnic Variations in Nigeria. Adisa Ademola Lateef (Phd), Obafemi Awolowo University
iv. The Search for African Identity in the Diasporas. Diana-Abasi Ibanga, University of Lagos.
v, The Expanding Nigerian English Lexicon: Evidences from a Nigerian Professor’s Inaugural Lecture. Kemi Olayemi, Olabisi Onabanjo University
vi, Linguistic and Cultural Identity Endangerment: Investigation of Indigenous-Language-English Nigerian Bilinguals’ Knowledge of Implications of their Linguistic Practices. Samson Olusola Olatunji, Lead City University.
vii, Ethnicity and a Sociolinguistic Discourse of Ojukwu’s Post Civil War Speech
Akano M. K , The Polytechnic, Ibadan.
viii Accessibility and Justiciability: Comparisons in the Structural Policies in Educational Reform in Brazil and Nigeria. Philip Ademola Olayoku, University of Ibadan.

xi, Indigenous Forms of Communication Used for Family Planning Awareness in Ondo State,Nigeria.Ajayi Busayo R., Federal University of Technology, Akure



DAY 2 (Tuesday 2nd July 2013)Evening Session. 3.00pm - 4.25pm


PANEL D2: Refugee Displacements, Ethnic and National Identity

EMERALD 2

Chair: Nelson O. Fashina, Ph.D University of Ibadan, Ibadan.


i, Forging Home: Local and Global Intersections in the Post conflict Reintegration of Liberian Returnee Refugees. Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, PhD, Babcock University.
ii, Elechi Amadi’s Estrangement: A Product of Post-War Experiences of Women in Kenke-Village Aluu-Portharcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria.Gloria Eme. Worugji, Ba (Uniport), Mpa, Ma, Ph.D(Unical),University of Calabar
iii. Nutrition Status of Refugees and Displaced People in Nigeria: A Case Study of Oru Refugee Camp of Ogun State. Olarewaju C.A. and Olayiwola I.O.
iv. Human Trafficking as a Means of Displacement and Dispossession: A Case Study of Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Merchants of Flesh and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked. Olaniyan Solomon O.,University of Ibadan.
v, National Identity in the Multicultural State. Lawrence O. Bamikole (Phd), University of The West Indies.
vi Beyond the Amnesty: Oil, Social Displacement and Dispossession in The Niger Delta. Iwebunor Okwechime (Ph.D),Obafemi Awolowo University.

vii, Migration of Health Care Professionals From Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review Essay.

Onaiwu W. Ogbomo, Ph.D.,Western Michigan University.


DAY 2 (Tuesday 2nd July 2013)Evening Session. 3.00pm - 4.25pm
PANEL D 3: Racism and Xenophobia
EMERALD 3
Chair: Dr.Osezua, Ehiyamen Mediayanose, Osun State University.
i, Xenophobia in Africa: The Reciprocity for Ineffective Cultural Management. Osedebamen David Oamen, Ph.D, Ambrose Alli University
ii, Xenophobia, Trust and the Rainbow Nation: Exploring the Role Played by Social Trust in Determining Attitudes towards Immigrants in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Steven Gordon ,Human Sciences Research Council Democracy, Governance & Service Delivery (DGSD), South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS).
iii. Xenophobia, Intra-Racism and the Politics of Exclusion: The Realities and Dynamics of Xenophobic Violence in South Africa. Chiwueze Benedict Udeh, Prof. Nwabufo-Okeke Uzodike (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and Dr. Chris .A. Isike , University of ZuluLand.
iv. Initiation and Symbolism - Connotative Tools in the Apartheid Struggle Mirrored in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead. Stephen O. Solanke, Ajayi Crowther University

v, Hegemony or Survival: South Africa’s regional pursuit of soft power and the challenges of Xenophobia, Olusola Ogunnubi and Oluwaseun Tella, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
vi. Ethnic Neuroses and Rituals of Violence in Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. Oladipupo Oluremi Olalekan. Ajayi Crowther University,
vii,Beyond Apartheid: A Study of Recent South African Drama Afolayan Bosede F. (PhD). University of Lagos

TOFAC 2013 DINNER - 630-8.30
Lead City Conference Centre




DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013


8.30-900 -Tour of LCU Campus Mr Kunle Olaniran

MORNING SESSION
(9.00am - 11.00am)


DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013

PANEL B.1: Administration and Conflict Resolution
Venue: : EMERALD 1

Chair: Queen Ogbomo,Ph.D, Tennessee Technological University


i, Qualitative Administration in Nigerian Universities. Adenekan, Tolulope Elizabeth, Lead City University.
ii, Nigeria, Afro-centrism and Conflict Resolution: Five Decades after- How far, How well? Olumuyiwa Babatunde Amao and Ufo, Okeke- Uzodike, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

iii. Memorialisation: Towards Sustainable Peace building among Diverse Ethnics in Nigeria Ademola Olayoku, University of Ibadan.
iv. The Challenges of Growth and Development: Cultural Pluralism in Kannywood. Ibrahim Daniel, University of Ibadan.
v, De)Making National Citizens? Nation Building, Ethno-Religious Violence and The Tragedies of The National Youth Service Corps (Nysc) in Nigeria (1999-2013)Abdul-Gafar Tobi Oshodi, Lagos State University.
vi. Migrant Remittances and the Development of the Informal Sector of the Nigerian Economy.Omonzejie, Peter I and Omonzejie, Eunice E. (Ph.D), Ambrose Alli University.






DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Morning Session
(9.00 am – 11:00 am)

PANEL B.2: Arts and Ethnic Identity

Venue: : EMERALD 2
Chair: Dr. Bashiru Akande Lasisi University of Ibadan.


i, Museums: Memory and Creativity for Social Change. Nelson O. Fashina, Ph.D University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
ii, Indigenous Forms and Symbols in Religious Architecture: A Case Study of the Work of Demas Nwoko a transformational Nigerian Architect. Dr. Abimbola O. Asojo, Ph.D.,University of Minnesota.
iii, Ethnic Consciousness and Artistic Creativity – Phoenix Savage and Albert La Verge as the Basis Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe, Obafemi Awolowo University
iv, Indigenous Vocational Trades in South-Western Nigeria in Historical Perspective. Tajudeen Adewumi Adebisi (Phd), Osun State University
v, Eurocentrism, ‘African Art’ and The ‘Egypt’ Factor. Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe, Obafemi Awolowo University
vi, Ijigi: an Edo Ethnic Music Featuring Edo Cultural Identity in Itaogbolu Community, Ondo State. Nigeria.Ayeyemi Ebenezer Oluwatoyin, Adeyemi College of Education.


DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Morning Session
(9.00 am – 11:00 am)

PANEL B. 3. Gender Discourse

Venue: EMERALD 3

Chair: Dr.Adetayo Alabi, Ph.D, University of Mississippi

i, Traditional and Contemporary Ethnic Disposition to Women and Leadership in Yoruba Films. Adagbada, Olufadekemi (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University.
ii, Sexual Predators or Preys: The White Male in Jude Dibia’s Novels. Ifeyinwa Genevieve Okolo, Federal University Lokoja.

iii. Analysis of Non-Violent and Violent Strategies in Combating Patriarchal And Domestic Violence in Francophone African Fiction of Fassinou’s Modukpè Ou Le Rêve Brisé and Calixthe Beyala C’est Le Soleil Qui M’a Brulee. Onojobi, Temidayo (Ph.D),Olabisi Onabanjo University.

iv.Welfare Associations and Gender Identity Transformation in Post Colonial Nigeria: a Study of Igbo Women in Makurdi Town. Okoye Onyinye, Benue State University.
v, Polygyny and the Womanist Discourse in Under The Brown Rusted Roofs and The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. Igwe O.C, University of Ilorin.
vi. Loric Denigration of the Female in Urhobo Proverbial Discourse Ohwovoriole, Felicia. Ph.D. University of Lagos.




11.05am - 11.35am TEA/COFFEE BREAK

DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(11:40 am - 1.40 pm)

PANEL C. 1: Oral Literature and Culture

Venue: : EMERALD 1
Chair: Dr. Adisa Ademola Lateef, Obafemi Awolowo University

i, Oral Literature as an Identity-Marker: Studies on the People of Benue State in Central Nigeria. Agbo Joshua, Benue State University.
ii, From Oral Tradition to Documented History: Preservation and Documentation of Negro Spirituals from 1867 to Present. Odujobi Kayode, Nigeria International School.
iii. Festival Performances in Africa and the Relevance of Richard Schechner’s Performance Theoretic
Anya Egwu ,Covenant University, Ota.

iv, Embodied Movements in the Circum-Caribbean Diaspora: Negotiating the Cultural Politics of Dance in the Construction of National Peoplehood. Gee. A. Yawson M.S.,Florida International University.
v, Religion and the Formation and Preservation of Cultural Identity in Nigeria. Ogidiama Avwerosuo Osivwi, University of Ibadan.
vi, A Visual Conceptualization of Moninkim Dance in Cross River State, Nigeria: Safe Guarding the Beauty of Womanhood. Bojor Enamhe, Cross River University of Technology.
vii,The Acceptability of Frog (Ambystoma Maculatum) as an Edible Meat in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Olarewaju C.A. and Olurankinse C.A.



DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(11:40 am - 1.40 pm)

PANEL C 2: Racism

Venue: : EMERALD 2
Chair: Dr.Donald O. Omagu , City University of New York
i, Modernity, Racism and the Devaluation of Humanity. Ademola BABALOLA, Obafemi Awolowo University.
ii, Uses and Abuses of Race/Ethnicity: U.S. Oil Companies and their Operations in Africa, 1940s-1980s.” Dr. Kairn A. Klieman, Associate Professor of History, University of Houston
iii. Race and Ethnicity: Irreducible Categories in Black People’s Timeless Encounters. Kunirum Osia, Coppin State University, USA
iv. Hybridisation of the Politics of Ethno-Religious Identity in Nigeria Dr. Sulaiman Kura, Usmanu Danfodiyo University
v, Abiku Myth: a Syndromatic Recreation of Racial Paradigm in Nigeria’s inter-ethnic Palavers – A reading of Kole Omotosho’s Just before Dawn. Samuel Yemi Olugbamigbe, Adeyemi College of Education.

vi. Ethnicity as a Variant of Racism: a Case of the Igede of Central Nigeria. Victor Iyanya (PhD), Benue State University.


DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Afternoon Session
(11:40 am - 1.40 pm)
PANEL C.3: Family and Gender

Venue: : EMERALD 3

Chair: Adagbada, Olufadekemi (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University.

i, Cultural Stereotypes and Domestic Violence in Nigeria: A Socio-Legal Perspective. Omobamidele O. Olufemi, Babcock University.
ii, The Politicisation of Gender Issues in the Nigerian Polity: A Critique Damilola Taiye Agbalajobi, Obafemi Awolowo University.
iii. Of Modernity, Identity, Sexuality and Belongingness: Problematizing Shifting Relationships in Recent Nigerian Expatriate Fiction. Remy Oriaku, PhD, University of Ibadan.
iv. Families and Involuntary Exodus: Traditional African and African American Family Life under Slavery. Donald O. Omagu PhD, City University of New York.
v, Broken Ties and Kinship Identities : a Contemporary Family Reality. Dr Yetunde Akorede, Adeyemi College of Education.
vi. Cultural Crisis of Widowhood Inheritance in an African Society. Nasir, Taofiq Olaide, Olabisi Onabanjo University.




1.45pm - 2.30pm LUNCH


DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Evening Session. 2.35pm - 4.35pm


PANEL D.1 Nationalism and Politics

Venue: EMERALD 1
Chair: Dr. Sulaiman Kura, Usmanu Danfodiyo University



i , Democracy and Good Governance: Imperatives for Attainment of Millennium Development Goals.Collins Friday Obialor, Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education.
ii, Ethnic Nationalism and its Enduring Political Power, Ogungbesan, Oluseyi Abiodun , Olabisi Onabanjo University.
iii. Urban Youth and Ethnic Identity in Nigeria’s Multilingual and Socio Cultural Space Sogunro, Bolanle Olufumbi (Phd), University of Ibadan.

iv. Votes and Violence: An Evaluation of Ethnic Politics in Nigeria. AFOLABI, Olugbemiga Samuel Ph.D, Obafemi Awolowo University
v, A Socio-Literary Interpretation of Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck and its Implications for Contemporary Nigerian Society. Mark Osama Ighile, Ph.D, Redeemer’s University.
vi. A Philosophical Appraisal of the Concept of Common Human Origin and the Question of Racism. Aderibigbe M.O (Ph.D.), Federal University of Technology.




1
DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Evening Session. 2.35pm - 4.35pm


PANEL D2: Contexts in the Nigerian Home Video and Performing Arts

EMERALD 2
Chair: Niyi.Adebanjo (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University



i, Questions on Magun - a Review of Kilani’s Thunderbolt. Adeleke, Ogunfeyimi, Samuel Adegboyega University.
ii, Performing Across the Sea: Yoruba Race in Global Space Bashiru Akande Lasisi (Phd), University of Ibadan.
iii, The Challenges of Growth and Development: Cultural Pluralism in Kannywood

Ibrahim Daniel, University of Ibadan.
iv, Life Imitating Art- Impact of Nollywood on Culture in Africa and the Diaspora
Oluwatoyin A. Asojo Phd,Baylor College Of Medicine Houston Texas
Oluwatosin A. Asojo Pe Fluor Corporation Texas
Abimbola O. Asojo Aia Phd, College Of Design University of Minnesota
Theresa T. Asojo Phd, Joseph Babalola University
v, Against God and Man: Critisizing the Profanity of St Janet’s Music and Dance
Olalusi, Kehinde Adedamola, University of Ilorin.




DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Evening Session. 2.35pm - 4.35pm


PANEL D2: IMMIGRATION and MIGRATION

EMERALD 2

Chair: Dr.Victor Iyanya, Benue State University.

i, Immigration and Identity Conflicts : A Case Study of the African Immigrant in The United States. Dr. Ohiro Oni-Eseleh, International Policy Forum, USA.
ii, Returned Migration and Tourism Development in Nigeria: Experiences from Annual Holy Ghost Congress of the RCCG. Adetola Omitola, Redeemer’s University
iii. Resurgence of ethnic nationalism in Africa: A theoretic enquiry. Ferdinand O. Ottoh, University of Lagos.
iv. Race and Class in the Literature of Caribbean Migration. Dr Shola Adenekan ,University of Bayreuth, Germany

v, If We Must Die: Representations of the Lynched Black Body in African American Literature (Single-paper submission)

Dr. Karlos K. Hill, Texas Tech University.
vi. Colorism in Black and White: A Study of Color Consciousness/Preference among College Students in the Mid-West.Jeanine Pittman, B.A. & Henry J. Grubb, Ph.D., University of Dubuque.
vii, Migration, Eroded Cultures and Intergenerational Dialectics in Aminata Sow Fall’s Novels Eunice E.Omonzejie, Ambrose Alli University


DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Evening Session 4.40pm-5pm
Final Plenary Session
Deliberations on TOFAC



DAY 3 ,3rd July 2013 Evening Session 5pm-6.30pm
TOUR OF IBADAN


DAY 4 ,4th July 2013
Departure





BOOK OF ABSTRACTS
A Historical Analysis of Ethnic Militancy and its Effect on National Integration in Nigeria
Adedipe Adesoji and Omoregie Pat Iziengbe,
University of Ibadan.ade...@yahoo.com<mailto:adesoji...@yahoo.com>,izwith...@yahoo.co.uk
Over the years, the process of national integration has suffered set back due to the neglect of history in an attempt to unravel national challenges. In order to find a lasting solution to any problem, there is cogent need to also find the root cause of such problems. The problem of ethnic militancy and ethnic terrorism in Nigeria is already assuming a very dangerous dimension as it threatens the very existence of the nation. Many political pundits are already predicting a final collapse of Nigeria. It is in this light that this paper seeks to unravel the history of ethnic militancy and its effect on Nigeria in the process of building a nation. The paper focuses on two major ethnic militants groups whose activities have threatened the very existence of the nation. It looks at the Niger Delta militants, their origin and the lesson to be learnt. It also looks at the Boko haram insurgence and the heat it has caused the nation. The study employs historical methodology and qualitative analysis to look at the origin, activities of ethnic militancy and itseffect on the process of national integration. It concludes that to resolve very sensitive issueslike ethnic militancy or terrorism, there is the need to handle it from it root by looking back at the original cause of such insurgence.

RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS AND THE RISE OF ISLAMISM IN NIGERIA
Omolara Akinyemi,
Obafemi Awolowo University. larv...@yahoo.co.uk<mailto:larv...@yahoo.co.uk>
Religious and Politics are inseparable in Nigeria system, which poses a lot of threats in the country. Nigeria is a secular state predominantly Muslims from the northern part and Christians from the southern part of Nigeria. This has reinforced the prevalent antagonisms in Nigeria. It could be concluded that there is a linkage between religious and politics as evident in political radicalism in the northern part under the pretext of Islamic fundamentalists (Boko Haram) posing a serious challenge to the secular nature of Nigeria state such as the killings and bombings of churches in the north. This threat has gone to the extent of some people agitating for disintegration because the environment is hostile. The paper therefore centered on religious and politics; and implications for Nigeria society. Also, the need for transformation in Nigeria to new political order beyond ethnic and religious antagonism which has the tendency of collapsing the state.
NIGERIA AND THE ROAD TO KIGALI: A HISTORICAL VIEW FROM THE PYTHON’S EYES
AKUBOR Emmanuel Osewe PhD (Zaria)
osewe...@gmail.com, akubo...@yahoo.com<mailto:akubo...@yahoo.com>.
Drawing from the lessons of history, it is clear that continuing with the trend of events, Nigeria is towing the path toward the destruction and exterminations that took place in Kigali, Rwanda. This is based on the fact that tragedies and events have continued to point towards that direction. This position has been echoed by Karl Maier and others who chronicled Nigeria’s monumental corruption, social injustice, ethno-religious contradictions and envisaged a nation on the precipice of inevitable collapse. However, most of those in power and the ruling elite who have made a career out of playing the Ostrich, in continue the denial of the multifaceted crisis their misrule has engendered. The handwriting on Nigeria’s wall, indicates a grim journey of national suicide that leads nowhere but to certain destruction. This paper using the historical approach, argues that decades of misrule, under the stewardship of pathologically incompetent and unpatriotic leaders who like locusts set about the vandalism of the nation, stripping it bare of any trappings or essence of nationhood, has plunged the nation into plague of violent social unrest as reflected in ethnic/religious killing in the north, continuous clashes between nomad and there host communities, large scale kidnapping , mass importation of arms, suicide bombings/ terrorism. This in the opinion of the author represent deliberate steps toward destruction.
Keywords: Nigeria, Kigali, History, Python’s Eyes
Immigration And Identity Conflicts:A Case Study Of The African Immigrant In The United States
Dr. Ohiro Oni-Eseleh
International Policy Forum, USA. Ohi...@gmail.com<mailto:Ohi...@gmail.com>

Although the phenomenon of global population movements is real and receiving some attention in scholarly discussions, only a few countries take that into consideration in crafting social policy. Yet, labor mobility and population migration have most certainly become a crucial reality for today’s world. Immigration occurs for several reasons, ranging from a desire for education to a search for better employment opportunities. These would represent immigration that occurs by choice but several people migrate from their birth countries to others due to circumstances, such as wars and other political upheavals over which they have no control. However, whether by coercion, necessity or choice, many people in the world, including Africans, move from their countries of birth to another during their lifetime. Regardless of the motivation for immigration, the decision to leave one’s country of origin for another often brings disconnection from familiar social institutions and cultural practices, separation from family members, and isolation from sources of support in one’s new homeland (Suarez-Orozco, Todorova and Louie, 2002). In many cases, acculturation and the social struggles that become part of the immigrant experience also tend to become direct challenges to the cultural and personal identity of the immigrant.

This paper proposes to focus, not on the overall subject of migration but on the effects of immigration on African immigrants in the United States. This is a particularly relevant subject considering that millions of African immigrants live in the United States, constituting 3.7 percent of all immigrants in the country in 2007 (Migration Policy Institute, 2013). That number has risen exponentially over the last few decades, a point that is made more evident when one considers the fact that over 75 percent of African immigrants in the United States arrived after 1990. The number of African immigrants is even higher when one recognizes that the stated numbers refer only to documented African immigrants and would even be higher when undocumented immigrants are included in the calculation.

The present paper will make distinctions between cultural and personal identity and advance the argument that for an African born and raised on the Continent, the former has a significant impact on the latter, and the extent of that impact shapes not only the overall immigration experience but also the immigrant’s perception of the native and receiving country. The paper will advance the position that, for the typical African immigrant, the immigration experience often represents a clash of cultures that impacts cultural and personal identity for better or worse, depending on other factors not the least of which is the immigrant’s own sense of self.









An African Cultural Philosophy for Global Change

Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi,Ph.D

University of Abuja.Ugwu...@yahoo.com<mailto:Abuja.Ugwu...@yahoo.com>
This paper sets out to articulate the challenges of culture in global human interaction especially in relation to Africa and to provide a view on how these challenges can be addressed. I will articulate the problems that arise from Africa’s interaction with the global world especially in relation to culture and attempt to articulate a viable solution to this problem. I will argue that a viable solution to the numerous cultural challenges that confront Africa in global human arena lies on the extent to which the idea of African culture places the African on a healthy rational ground to (i)locate the African presence in the world;(ii) defend the validity of African humanity and the mental structures that recreate African norms and values;(iii)defend and uphold cultural values that are African but that are lacking in global human interaction and finally (iv)connects the African family in what should lead to global Pro-Africanism or what has been called glo-fricanization(L.O.Ugwuanyi,2011).I shall attempt to shift the culture discuss from the predominantly materialistic conception of culture or a Pan-African orientation of African culture to one that seeks to infuse pragmatism and scientific validity to African culture with the argument that African culture must seek to make the African a relevant agent of change in the global world or loose its relevance. To achieve the goals of this study I shall (i)map out and discuss the major challenges of global change as they relate to Africa;(ii)interpret the demands of these changes as they relate to African culture and (iii)proceed to articulate a viable response or proposal to these changes and challenges.

Returned Migration and Tourism Development in Nigeria: Experiences from Annual Holy Ghost Congress of the RCCG
Adetola Omitola
Redeemer’s University. bolato...@yahoo.com<mailto:bolato...@yahoo.com>

Africa has been involved in migration right from the ancient time, various factors such as trans-Saharan trade, trading with Europeans, slave trade, civil war, religious and many other factors have been responsible for movement of Africans to other lands and of people of other descent to Africa. However, the modern phenomenon of movement of people from Africa to other parts of the world is seen as conditioned largely by issues such as war of independence, civil wars, educational pursuits and lately severe economic crisis forcing large population of African skilled workers to become labour migrants.

However, the latest variant of these migrations instead of being seen as “brain-drain” is rather seen as “brain gain” with attendant mutual benefit to the home country as well as the host country of such labour. This is due to the observation of scholars of tendency of emigrants to maintain a close linkage with their home country through various means such as sponsoring or supporting political activities, supporting family members, religious and other societal links.

This is usually the case with most Pentecostal churches in Nigeria with large members in Diasporas (in countries such as USA, UK, Ireland and Germany amongst others) who however maintains a close linkage with their headquarters churches through various annual programmes. It is within this context that this paper examines linkages between human mobility behaviour (migration) and religious tourism in Nigeria using the case of Annual Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

The paper adopts both descriptive and statistical analysis based on primary and secondary sources of data to determine the influence of this mobility on the socio-economic activities of the area where the programmes are held, development of tourism infrastructure of hotels, eatery etc and any other negative impacts of the inflow of Pentecostal faithful on the areas especially as they affect local communities.
The paper concludes that the annual returned migration of members of the church possess potential for tourism development in the country
Key words: Returned Migration, Diasporas, Tourism Development, RCCG and Nigeria
Colonialism: An Impediment to the Development of Home Grown Business
Kehinde O. Ola And David O. Oke
Samuel Adegboyega University....@gmail.com, odavi...@gmail.com<mailto:odavi...@gmail.com>.
The Colonial masters sojourned in sub- Saharan Africa have brought about significant changes in every aspect of the lives of the people. One of these is the decline in the numbers of home grown business in sub- Saharan Africa because the first target of the Europeans is to destroy the existing culture of the people.They are made to perceive foreign lifestyles and goods as the necessary factor in civilisation which leads to myopic view of locally made goods. Today, Africans have no contribution to the world trade except in the supply of primary goods which are subject to fluctuation in international price. The present economic crises experience by nearly all African countries shows that they do not have the structures which can stimulate economic growth and entrepreneurship development has been seen as the key to the growth of sub- Saharan Africans. This makes the government of Nigeria to put all necessary facilities on ground to enhance entrepreneurial skills in people which possibility is doubtful because of changed cultural values in Nigerians due to long term of colonialism. This paper has the aimed of examining the contribution of colonialism to the decline of home grown business and further examining relevance of culture in the growth of African economy. This study will examine the problem from historical perspective with special focus on Christian missionaries and Western education.
Keywords: Colonialism, Home Grown Business, Culture, Economic Growth
Congo, Solibo and Scratch: (Re)placing Africa in Patrick Chamoiseau’s Solibo Magnificent
Kayode Omoniyi Ogunfolabi
Obafemi Awolowo University. kay...@ogunfolabi.org<mailto:kay...@ogunfolabi.org>



In Caribbean literatures Africa sometimes emerges as a source of fascination anxiety and terror, especially in terms of theorizing the relatedness of the continent and the new world. Evidence of this can be seen in the writings of Aime Cesaire, Derek Walcott and Patrick Chamoiseau for example. Needless to say, engagement with this subject has been mediated by what Edouard Glissant calls “eruption into modernity.” This essay examines the ways in which Africa has been reproduced and placed in Patrick Chamoiseau’s Solibo Magnificent by scrutinizing its representation of the relationship between the African continent and Chamoiseau’s literary production of Caribbean subjectivity, specifically in Solibo Magnificent.

Central to this study are the imbrications of the Negritude movement, postcolonial subjectivity, and the notion of uprootedness, among which the question of identity construction constantly shifts, in the process of bewildering the homogenizing impulse of colonial master-narratives of identity. Therefore, the study will also adopt a close reading of Chamoiseau’s text that emphasizes deconstructive attitude and that underscores indeterminacy of symbolic representations of self and others.

The paper will strive to find out the mechanism through which Solibo Magnificent places, displaces and replaces Africa as colonial construction and nativistic fetish, through a self-conscious subversion of the narrative or origin. In addition, this essay will endeavor to discover the significance of the discursive shift from romantic idealization of Africa to the deconstruction and re-inscription of the continent, while relying on the technique of postmodernist pastiche.



In addition, the relationship between archetypal characters such as Congo and Solibo on the one hand, and the idea of writing as scratch on the other, is very central to how Africa is placed within Chamoiseau’s Solibo Magnificent particularly because this relationship will help in questioning the relatedness between the continent of Africa and the diaspora that is often taken for granted in myriad discourses either as origin or implacable liminal ontology.
Culture and Nigerian Identity in the Print Media
Mrs. Nwaolikpe, Onyinyechi Nancy
Babcock University. ony...@yahoo.com<mailto:ony...@yahoo.com>.
The mass media is an important factor in Nigeria. They have important roles to play in the area of cultural education and national development. The mass media support and enhance development programmes in the country and should be one of the channels through which cultural values and ideas will be disseminated. The cultural heritage and lifestyle of citizens in a community is learned and passed from generation to generation, people learn and embrace new ideas, new ways of behaving and new and emerging trends. This paper examines culture, impact of globalization on Nigerian cultural heritage, and the role the print media play in inculcating Nigerian cultural heritage to the citizens and in its preservation. It employs media dependency theory highlighting that people turn to the media for social change. It concludes that the print media should play a major role in the dissemination and preservation of Nigerian cultural heritage thereby ensuring positive behavior and social change among the citizens
Cyber – Activism and Social Network Media: Appropriating The Emerging Platform To Promoting Nation-Building And Peace
Adefolarin .A. Olamilekan
University Of Abuja. Lek...@yahoo.com<mailto:Lek...@yahoo.com>, www.lekanspeaks.bravesites.com<http://www.lekanspeaks.bravesites.com>
The article sets out to demonstrate the value and role cyber activism and social network media can play in the promoting of nation – building and peace. It looks at the conceptual definition of Cyber-activism, social networking media, nation building, peace and there manifold meaning. This leads to a discussion of the relevance of discourse theory to a study of nation building of the relevance of discourse theory to a study of nation building and peace, especially to the understanding of nationalist ideology. The paper concludes that cyber activism and social networking media platform is a viable tool, hence can enhance the promotion of nation building and peace, although the study identify some criticism against the uses of internet being the platform cyber activism and social networking media are both create and user generated content.
Keywords: Cyber –Activism, Social Network Media, Internet Activism, Nation Building Nationalism, Nationalist, Peace, Discourse, Ideology
Democracy and Good Governance: Imperatives for Attainment of Millennium Development Goals
Collins Friday Obialor
Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education. obialor...@yahoo.com<mailto:obialor...@yahoo.com>
This paper examines the nexus between democracy and good governance as imperatives for attainment of Millennium development Goals in Nigeria. The variables under study are conceptually clarified and operationalized. The study employed two theoretical perspectives, namely, pluralist and public policy theories to elucidate the constraints of governance in Nigeria socio-political milieu. The paper highlights the dilemma of a political leader in a democratic setting in Nigeria. The complexity and multi-policity of ethno-religious issues are the major constraints to enduring democracy and good governance in Nigeria. These phenomena are also found to be the bane of Nigeria’s public policy implementation as the process results most often, in “poor, callous and haphazard implementation and abandonment due to disagreement, policy inconsistency, corruption, indiscipline, contractual failures and problems of overlapping jurisdiction etc.” The topic which is handled thematically and coherently, logically adopted historical, eclectic and explanatory methodology to weave a challenging puzzle between democracy and good governance on the one hand, and imperatives for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals on the set target date of year 2015 on the other hand. A critical appraisal of Nigeria’s effort in this regard, expressed optimism that the country will not lag behind other nations before the year 2015. Finally, the paper recommends an active strategic collaboration between Nigeria and a strong foreign power capable of rising above ethno-religious particularism necessary for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and enduring democracy in Nigeria.
Key Words: Democracy and Good Governance, Pluralism and Public Policy.


Mental Alienation and African Identity: Exploring Historical Perspectives In Response To The Crisis of African Societies
Eegunlusi, Tayo Raymond Ezekiel
Federal University of Technology Akure.ki...@yahoo.com<mailto:kinga...@yahoo.com>
This paper argues that the colonially-motivated alienation of the African mind, which plays a major role in the moral crisis, corruption, war and anarchy on the African continent, makes uncertain the possibility of a true African identity. Writers often premised African identity on historical, cultural and psychological factors but these factors now appear to be weak constituents of this identity because of severe crisis facing the moral and communitarian foundation on which this identity rests. The present problem of the African state is dual-natured. First is that her rich moral heritage of dignity, discipline, diligence, faithfulness, honesty and sound integrity are being eroded. Second is that the spate of intolerance sweeping across some parts of Africa, resulting from unmitigated acceptance of alien western doctrines inappropriate for her culture, grossly infests her systems with a high level of intolerance and anarchy capable of making her social order like Hobbes’ state of nature in which human life is “nasty, brutish and short” These situations, worst still, have horridly affected the meaningful and constructive development of the continent and rank her people among the poorest in the world, despite her rich natural and human resources. Using the critical and argumentative methods of empirical, conceptual and historical analysis, this paper explores the rich moral background of the Yorubas, among other cultures, as case study and urges a return to the moral ideals that once dominated and characterized African states.
Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999-2011)
Michael Abiodun Oni Ph.D, Aaron Ola Ogundiwin Ph.D and Chibuzor Ayodele Nwaodike
Babcock University, maa...@yahoo.com<mailto:maa...@yahoo.com>
Electoral contest is expectedly determined by objective variables such as parties’ manifestoes, programmes, candidates/aspirants personality, past, present potentials and records of performance. These are usually the variables that determined not only those who contest elections but also won. However, it was observed that the determinants of electoral contest and pairing of candidates (president, vice president, governors and deputy governors) to contest elections and subsequently emerged at the general elections in the period under investigation (1999-2011) in Nigeria were determined by primordial factors. This is particularly ethnicity. Thus, this study investigated the role of ethnicity on electoral contest in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.
The study adopted qualitative descriptive survey. Presidential and governorship elections and pairing of candidates were selected for study in the period. Six states one from each geo-political were purposively selected for investigation. This study collected both primary and secondary data. The primary data were collected from key actors/informants and secondary data through perusal of relevant and available documents such as newspapers, journals and certified results of elections.
The study found that the major determinants of electoral contest in the period was the root of origin of the contestants (ethnicity) particularly elective positions that needed to do with the pairing of candidates in a joint ticket election. These were the cases in the presidential and governorship elections in the selected states. The pairing of candidates: president and vice president on the one hand and governorship and deputy governorship on the other were determined by ethnic factors as against manifestoes and programme, past records and performance of the candidates.
The paper concluded that elections and pairing of candidates to contest presidential and governorship elections in the selected states across the geo-political zones were determined by primordial factors rather than merit, past records and performance. Therefore, it was recommended that for good governance and robust administration, high premium must be placed on potentials, past records and performance in voting for candidates and pairing of candidates to contest elections.
Keywords: Ethnicity, Electoral Contest, Primordial, Performance, Potentials.
Ethnicty and the Nigerian Civil War
Omoregie Pat Iziengbe
University Of Ibadan. Izwith...@Yahoo.Co.Uk<mailto:izwith...@yahoo.co.uk>
For most African Nations ethnic balancing has remained a huge problem to national development. In many occasions, ethnicity has become a very important political tool in the hand of greedy politician parading themselves as nationalist or elites. The manipulations of ethnic sentiments in politics have resulted to several civil wars in different parts of Africa. This is not far fetch from the circumstances surrounding the birth of most African nations, most of which are European creation. Nigeria as a nation state is one of the British creation in West Africa. The amalgamation of 1914 brought together the Northern and Southern protectorate to form a single entity now called Nigeria. Although there was an amalgamation, there was no deliberate effort by the British colonial authority to build a solid foundation of unity among the people. The South and North were ruled as separate entity. These two main regions had several ethnic groups (major and minor) who were contending for superiority in the state. Thus, the North-South dichotomy was already established by the British colonial authority. From this kind of background of mistrust and agitation, conflicts were inevitable. It is in this light that the paper, however, seeks to interrogate ethnicity in relation to the Nigeria civil war. The paper focuses on ethnicity as the immediate cause of the Nigeria civil war and also looks at the ethnicity displayed during the 30 month war. It concludes that if Nigeria does not put aside ethnic politics, the nation might suffer disintegration in the nearest future.
Colonial Urban Centers, Economic Security, Identity Bonding and the Emergence Of Ethnic Associations in Nigeria: 1920 to 1960
Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee and Alozie Bright Chiazam
University of Nigeria, Nsukka. chimee...@yahoo.com<mailto:chimee...@yahoo.com> , donbri...@yahoo.com<mailto:donbri...@yahoo.com>
One major springboard for the emergence of ethnic consciousness and ethnic associations in Nigeria appears to be colonialism, which created in its wake urban centres that attracted diverse population groups and cultural entities. For the alien system to work, a vast array of political, administrative and economic structures were set up which the natives were not conversant with, and the competition these structures induced created a lot of economic, and material insecurity; thus exposing the people to the harsh realities of the colonial urban center/city, just emerging. The tendency for the visitor to seek first protection under the primordial umbrella was rife considering the chronic challenges he faced as a settler in a completely new terrain that also tended to question his rights and privileges in another person’s homeland. To mitigate these challenges and preserve his identity and interests, visitors and settlers in the colonial emerging urban centres and cities began to aggregate together under ethnic unions. With this, a solidarity framework had emerged to give voice to the ordinarily ‘voiceless’ settler in the emerging cities and centres of commerce, something the colonial regime could not guarantee him. Thus emerged a conscious identity and ethnic drive. The paper will explore the place of colonialism, economic security, identity bonding and the ultimate emergence of ethnic unions in Nigeria from the 1920s to the time Nigeria had independence in 1960, and how these have affected intergroup relations over time in Nigeria.




The Role of the Social Media in sustaining the African Identity
Babafemi Jacobs B.sc

Lead City University. Babaf...@yahoo.com<mailto:Babaf...@yahoo.com>
Technology is one factor that has changed the ways, methods and beliefs through which the African society progressively operate on a daily basis. The media as a part of society is not left out of this constant and continuous change. The social media is one which has a growing population of users and audience in Africa despite the many challenges faced by African countries in their bid to meet up with the development indexes set international bodies under the umbrella of the United Nations. The average African society or tribe cannot deny the influence of the various forms of media on its traditional, religious and cultural ways of life. Many are of the opinion that cultural imperialism will one day see to the extinction of the African culture and the loss of the African identity. This article looks at the link between the African, the African society and the social media. It also looks at the concept of virtual ethnicity and how the social media can be used to promote ethnic values and possibly create virtual ethnic groups in a technological driven world that promotes the individuality of the human being.

Uses and Abuses of Race/Ethnicity: U.S. Oil Companies and their Operations in Africa, 1940s-1980s.”
Dr. Kairn A. Klieman
University of Houston. : kkli...@uh.edu<mailto:kkli...@uh.edu>
This paper is derived from research carried out for a larger book project on the history of U.S. oil companies in Africa. Drawing on archival sources such as the U.S. State Department records, the Exxon –Mobil Archives, and the Ghana National Archives, as well as American and African periodicals and journals, the paper will focus on the ways that U.S. oilmen’s understandings of race and ethnicity have 1) influenced their operations in Africa, 2) shifted according to changing economic goals, and 3) impacted African history and politics. After World War II and into the 1950s, U.S. oil companies promoted policies of “inclusion” and “uplift” as they sought to expand market capacity through the construction of petrol stations and the training of Africans to own and run such franchises. When oil was discovered and the “upstream” (exploration and production) became the focus (1960s), notions of inclusion and uplift were left behind. Not only were greater profits at stake, but the discovery of oil coincided with the rise of political and economic nationalism in Africa. As a result, U.S. oil companies assumed a defensive stance and worked to keep critical knowledge regarding finance, operations, and technologies within their own ranks. The paper will document how the oil companies utilized both American and African notions of race and ethnicity to manage their workforce, and will propose theories as to how issues of race and ethnicity can be integrated into the existing literature on the “Oil Curse” in Africa and elsewhere on the globe.
Questions on Magun – A Review of Kilani’s Thunderbolt
Adeleke, Ogunfeyimi

Samuel Adegboyega University. yinkal...@gmail.com<mailto:yinkal...@gmail.com>

Sometimes, it is easier to define what a phenomenon means than how. What, fundamentally, refers to the nature or identity of a thing. How asks the question of in what way or by what method an experience, an event or a phenomenon occurs. This, basically, is for the explanation that what magun means appears more abstract than how. Magun is identified as a mystical-sexual enchantment or embargo placed on a woman (usually by her husband) to check her infidelity or as a deterrent to many (men) who otherwise could have been reckless in their sexual life. In most cases, a woman who carries such a deadly or derogatory spell does not have knowledge of it until a man climbs her or has sexual intercourse (?) with her and dies in consequence, which usually is very instantaneous. This is what magun means.










Critical discourse is replete with existing studies on what it means. The question of how it means, however, has not received adequate critical attention. This study, therefore, examines how magun means by reviewing Kilani’s exploration of the phenomenon in his film, Thunderbolt, to provide answers to some very fundamental questions: i. Does magun mean do not climb a woman who carries the magun spell during sexual contact; ii. Does it mean that one should not have sex with her at all; iii. What role does technology (like the use of condom during sexual contact) play in the magun phenomenon?
Memorialisation: Towards Sustainable Peacebuilding among Diverse Ethnics in Nigeria
Ademola Olayoku
University of Ibadan. philip....@gmail.com<mailto:philip....@gmail.com>
The nascent nature of Nigeria’s democratic experience in the fourth republic is reflected in several inconsistencies within government’s policies and their implementation even as the President Jonathan administration grapples with attempts to unify and appease the different ethnic groups numbering up to 400 within about a population of over 170million.
This paper therefore examined the consolidation of Nigeria’s democratic experience and the sustenance of her democracy by adopting the memorialisation policy. It explores the conceptualization of memorialisation within the context of creation of public memorials through the erection of monuments, preservation and symbolization of historical sites (sites of conscience), emphatic signification of national symbols, preservation of art works, performance of commemorative events, national holidays and civic education. These tools for memorialisation are seen as important for national integration and peacebuilding in the multiethnic and multi religious Nigerian society.
The paper proposed a careful selection of such acts, objects and events through the engagement of experts in such related fields as history, legal and peace studies; as essential for the creation of an effective memorialisation policy geared to sustainable peace building agenda which they may have been developed to achieve.
Modernity, Racism and the Devaluation of Humanity

Ademola BABALOLA

Obafemi Awolowo University. babloa...@yahoo.com<mailto:babloa...@yahoo.com>
This essay associates modernity with racism. The belief is that racism is coterminous with imperialistic adventures by the supposed “civilized” modern societies of the world. To justify their predatory activities, they have often advanced the thesis that they have the manifest destiny to civilize other peoples of the world that are yet to see the light of modern living. To the contrary, historical evidences have shown that the above justification for their imperialistic activities is a mere subterfuge for appropriating the resources of other lands and denying them the rights to self-rule and self-determination.
Forging Home: Local and Global Intersections in the Postconflict Reintegration of Liberian Returnee Refugees
Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, PhD
Babcock University. jum...@gmail.com<mailto:jum...@gmail.com>
How do Liberian refugees returning from exile encounter the country they return to? In what ways do they forge, invent or shape the idea of home to enable their reintegration? And what complementary or contradictory roles do local and international agencies play in these processes? In the aftermath of the peace deal that ended the fourteen year-long civil war in Liberia in 2003, hundreds of thousands of refugees that had been hosted in countries across West Africa returned to the post-war country. Although the challenges of return for these returnee refugees have been documented in a swelling body of scholarly and practitioner literature, the above questions subsist. This paper therefore explores these questions based on over a hundred interviews with returnee refugees, staff of government agencies, non-governmental and international agencies, community leaders and other stakeholders in Liberia and Geneva, and drawing on psychosocial theory and regime complex theory as explanatory frames.
Key words: Liberia, Returnee refugees, Reintegration, Regimes
Word count: 151
MULTICULTURAL CONFLICTS AND NIGERIA’S TRANSITIONAL DEMOCRACY (1999 - 2007)
OLUFADE, Adenike Olufunke
University of Ibadan. rea...@yahoo.com<mailto:rea...@yahoo.com>
Perhaps nothing demonstrates the challenges of democratization in Nigeria better than the problem of multiculturalism. The issue of ethnic cleavages, manifested in the high incidence of multiculturalism, has loomed quite large in the affairs of successive Nigerian governments. A major problem arising from the ethnic and religious diversity of Nigeria is that it makes democratic compromise difficult. The different groups clamor for scarce resources and the control of government. This leads to what Daniel Chirot refers to as “democratic paralysis” (1977, 224). For a democratic political system to survive, citizens must have a prior agreement on a set of rules or consensus for allocation of resources (Usher 1981, viii). From the foregoing, this research showcases the different ethnic and cultural beliefs practiced in Nigeria. It analyses the account for multicultural conflicts in the country and how individuals have been able to protect their cultures from external aggression. The paper interrogates the process of government transition since the beginning of the civil rule in 1999. This paper queries the extent of multicultural conflicts on transitional democracy in Nigeria and concludes by looking at the gravity of multicultural conflicts on Nigeria government. It recommends strategies put in place by government and non-governmental organisations for curbing the menace.
Keywords: Multicultural conflicts, Nigeria’s transition and Democracy
Migrant Remittances and the Development of the Informal Sector of the Nigerian Economy
OMONZEJIE, Peter I. And OMONZEJIE, Eunice E. PhD
Ambrose Alli University.o...@ymail.com, eunic...@yahoo.co.uk<mailto:eunic...@yahoo.co.uk>
Nigeria (with a youth unemployment rate of over 40%) has witnessed in the last three decades specifically, of migration in hordes of its citizens to foreign countries. This to a large extent has been economically induced. By holding fast to an image of the western world as a financial utopia, millions of Nigerians – especially the youths – have transnationally migrated, seeking greener pastures. Since skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled Nigerians of both sexes are implicated in these transnational movements, the deleterious effects of migration – including brain-drain – on the Nigerian economy have been significantly felt. However, in view of the practice of the culture of remittances, and despite the difficulty of reconciliation of remittances of illegal migrants, available statistical data and individual capital accumulation make it apparent that economically the impact of migration is not a totally negative portent. The study examined the effect of migrant remittances through planned investments in the informal sector Engaging the descriptive approach, tables and graphs in our scrutiny, it was discovered that the myriad problems which hinder the development of the informal economy include inaccurate records, deteriorating or lack of basic infrastructures (energy, water, transport), unavailability of raw materials, insecurity etc. We have thus proffered suggestions on specific roles of the government of Nigeria in the development of the informal sector of the economy.
Key words: migration, remittances, informal economy, Nigeria




Oral Literature as an Identity – Marker: Studies on the People of Benue State in Central Nigeria
Agbo Joshua
Benue State University. joshu...@yahoo.com<mailto:joshu...@yahoo.com>
Oral literature is a literature of root, a literature of origin that shapes and reshapes the identity of a people through verbal composition and performance. It is deeply indigenous and characteristic of a people in every sense. Oral literature cannot be regarded as a stand – alone arm in the narrative of identity, race, tradition, culture, history but an important aspect in a people’s collective memory. Therefore, the nurturing and the growth of oral literature of the people of Benue in Central Nigeria for instance, is a collective effort of their oral artistes. It is an art – form that has a standing history and tradition. Oral literature like the “banyan” tree has grown to bear independent branches and the paper for this reason, harps on the orature of the Benue People in Central Nigeria, its strategic importance in their traditional society as well as its existence in their contemporary lives. How does it serve as an identity – marker in the Benue community? Is the art - form dead or alive? If it is alive, then we must ensure its continuity as the oldest form of African art because we know, how sad we feel, when the oldest man whose memory is the storehouse of a people’s value, history, culture, tradition, custom, etc., dies. It means the essential part of the community’s life is gone. That is, when the oral literature of a people dies, then the essential part of their lives is gone, and consequently, what is original in their art-form is dead. Therefore, the story in oral literature of a people is the genuine story they have, the story they are make, the story they are write, the story they are live and the story they would ultimately remain in their entire existence.

POLITICAL PARTIES AND ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA: A REVIEW
Adeyemi, O. Oluwatobi and Oyeleye Olukayode
Obafemi Awolowo University. fun...@gmail.com<mailto:fun...@gmail.com> and kyoy...@yahoo.com<mailto:kyoy...@yahoo.com>
Nigerian State is made up of so many different ethnic groups (major and minor) and has witnessed the entry and exit of so many political parties in pre and post independence era. Some of these political parties were established along ethnic disposition. Thus, the influence of ethnicity on political party formation in Nigeria has had a tremendous impact on national development. Against this analytical background, the paper examines the concept of political party, ethnicity, and political participation. It looks at the influence of ethnicity as a national phenomenon on the polity and proffers solution to this problem which has retarded development in Nigeria.
Keywords: Political Parties, Ethnicity, Democracy, Political Participation, Institutional theories, Historical theories, Modernisation theories.
Race and Ethnicity: Irreducible Categories in Black People’s Timeless Encounters
Kunirum Osia
Coppin State University. osi...@aol.com<mailto:osi...@aol.com>
There is so much diversity in the world in terms of race and ethnicity than is readily affirmed by some who continue to discriminate against others on that basis. The continued claim of race as an irreducible biological category that is understood as the nature and embodiment of humans exacerbates the problems of racism in its various manifestations. Social construction of race means that, for a variety of reasons humans invent the category and assign meanings to it and to racial hierarchies. Such construction has tended to provide permanency to racism with its multiple manifestations of prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes.
Racism creates distance and inequality among people, thus generates conflicts. It assumes that traits and abilities are biologically determined by race and postulates the inherent superiority of one race and its right to dominate others. History notes that groups use ethnicity as a protective shield against racial hostility. We will define the concepts of race, ethnicity, culture, racism, prejudice and stereotype as these will guide our re-evaluation of diversity in today’s world. However, attention would be paid to the concepts of ethnicity with its conceptual difficulties, the reality of racism with its strains of prejudice, discrimination and stereotype, and race with its irreducibility in constructing humanity into fixed category.
We argue that unless there is a collective change in humanity’s reevaluation of diversity and reinterpretation of race, black people’s negative encounters would continue, if not overtly, but in their insidious subtlety.
Religion & Trust as Challenges to Inter-Personal & Inter-Group Cooperation in Africa
Ohiro Oni-Eseleh
Executive Director of the International Policy Forum, New York. ohi...@gmail.com
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center in the United States was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 2,753 people and increased distrust between nations. Since the terrorists and their financers were all men propelled by religion and distrust, conservative religious leaders and politicians around the world have taken to open expressions of distrust for others whose religious beliefs they do not approve of. Many have advocated that national security strategies be driven by the beliefs of the predominant religions in their countries because, in their thinking, such approach is the best way to forestall future terrorist attacks. African societies have been caught in the middle of such opinions, as religious and/terrorist groups have grown even stronger and more conservative in their positions. Coming from a psychological perspective, the present paper focuses on some of the personal, inter-personal and inter-group trust deficits associated with modern day religious practices and discusses the present and future challenges that those deficits pose to an African Continent that needs to have amicable cooperation between its countries in order to be safe and prosperous. Drawing from the facts presented, recommendations are presented on the appropriate approach to building and maintaining safe and secure societies where liberty and justice are protected despite religious differences.
Resurgence of ethnic nationalism in Africa: A theoretic enquiry
Ferdinand O. Ottoh
University of Lagos....@yahoo.com<mailto:von...@yahoo.com>
There is a growing concern among scholars and statesmen on the resurgence of ethnic nationalism in many parts of Africa. This new phenomenon of ethnic nationalism differs from the old issue of ethnicity that characterized African political process. This is because the elites uses ethnicity as the basis for political power contestation but ethnic nationalism is based on excessive emotional attachment that is exhibited by a group who considers themselves alienated and marginalized in the political scheme of things. The paper argues that ethnic nationalism poses serious challenge to political stability on the continent as is evident from conflicts in countries such as the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tuareg crisis in Mali where some of the ethnic groups have constituted themselves as major political power contender thereby threatening the foundation of the state. The paper therefore takes a closer look at various theoretical postulations about ethnic identity problems with a view to understanding the root causes of recent ethno-nationalist movements. This becomes necessary in view of the fact that theoretical propositions are needed to treat these social phenomena ostensibly from descriptive, historical, and analytical perspectives. The paper argues that because of individual disciplinary interest the issue of ethnic nationalism is not given holistic theoretical explanation. This is why there is need to understand this social problem from different theoretical positions to help in bringing clarity to the reason(s) for the resurgence of ethnic nationalism.
Key words: ethnicity, nationalism, ethno-nationalist movement, etc.

Influence of Security Threats on Nigeria’s Ethno-Electoral Contest: Appraisal of
Fourth Republic
Godwin Ihemeje
Obafemi Awolowo Universit...@gmail.com<mailto:nedu...@gmail.com>
Election, regardless ethnic-divide is expected to translate from being adjudged free and fair by the international communities, local electorates and the media into timely announcement of results as well as declaration of winning political party(s) and candidates, after contest. These were hallmarked in the April 2011elections in Nigeria with credits ascribed to INEC and its officials of whose ad hoc staff were drawn from various academic communities and serving corps members of the NYSC. What appears as the ‘paradox of free and fair elections’ is the incessant rioting, demonstration, killing of corps members, and burning down of churches in the northern part of the country. The resultant effect of these unwanted actions is exemplified in its attendant danger on lives and properties, being a threat to national security. This paper examines the security threats within the nexus of ethnic-based elections in fourth republic. Attempt is made to compare various elections held between 1999 and 2011. The paper therefore argues that series of security threats after credible elections, if not adequately attended to, will lead to war and secession. And as such, analysis of the ‘Ethno-religious politics’ with its supporters, clearly reveals the complexity of ‘insecurity’ while expressing evidence of ethnographic enquiry.
Key words: Electoral process, credible election, security threats, comparative elections, ethno-religious politics
The Third World and Crisis of Identity
Ogbonnaya, Ufiem Maurice

National Institute for Legislative Studies. godsc...@yahoo.com<mailto:godsc...@yahoo.com>
The greatest challenge facing the Third World in contemporary international political system is the crisis of identity. The term “Third World” coined in 1952 by Alfred Sauvy, has been a contested concept. Its socio-economic characteristics are issues in dispute. Its boundaries are imprecise and thus mired in controversy. Its position in the hierarchy of states in international politics constitutes a moot point. The questions are; which countries of the world and in which continents constitute the Third World? What are the bases and criteria for their classification? This paper seeks to examine this crisis of identity surrounding the Third World. It employs descriptive analysis and draws extensively from varied secondary sources. Findings reveal that the classification of the Third World varies from one scholar to another, one international actor to another and one policy analyst to another. While some consider the Third World from political perspective, others define it from socio-economic dimensions. Yet, others think of the third world in terms of demographic and environmental conditions. These variations in perception create controversy in the identification and placement of the Third World. This notwithstanding, the paper concludes that the concept of the Third World remains a “valid generalization” as it applies to the underdeveloped countries of the world.

Key words: Third World, Crisis of Identity, Hierarchy of States, International Politics, Non-Alignment.

Beyond Intractability? Ethnicity, Nationality Identities and the Crisis of the
African State.
Dr. Kehinde Olayode
Obafemi Awolowo University. kenn...@yahoo.com<mailto:kenn...@yahoo.com>, kola...@oauife.edu.ng<mailto:kola...@oauife.edu.ng>

With rare exceptions, sub-Saharan African states like states in most parts of the world are conglomerations of groups, thrown together by the vagaries of colonial boundaries. The resilience of primordial ties prevalent in the post-colonial states of Africa and Asia has made it difficult for the transition from exclusionary and inequality-generating ethnicity identities to inclusionary and equality-oriented citizenship, to take place. In most conflicts in Africa, ethnicity and contested identities seem to be at the core. These identities have been enormously shaped by the colonial experience, which created a culturally artificial and divided state but did very little to nurture a unified nation-state. The crises of ethnic identity in Africa have deep historical roots in pre-colonial patterns of inter-group relations, and the discriminatory practices and ethnic inequalities entrenched by both the colonial regime and continued by post-independence administrations.


The seemingly intractability of ethnicity, identity and the national question in Africa provoked series of questions which the paper seeks to explore such as: Why has ethnic manipulation by the political leaders successful? Does ethnicity in itself represent an obstacle to building a viable and stable political system? Does strong ethnic identity serves as an obstacle to nationality or can it be used as an explanation for the building of states devoid of ethnic nationalism? The paper argues that while it is possible for ethnicity through exclusivism to truncate socio-political and economic development in a multi-ethnic state, the recognition of every ethnic group that they belong to a nationality and not a particular ethnic group stems the negative impacts of ethnicity. From evidences around Africa, the study concludes that a political project that place emphasis on national integration and understanding as well as inclusion in national governance is a significant political tool to curtailing the negative impact of ethnicity in a multi-ethnic state.
Memory and the Construction of National Consciousness: Memoir as Counter-Narrative in Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country
ANYADUBA, Chigbo Arthur
Obafemi Awolowo University. macab...@yahoo.com<mailto:macab...@yahoo.com>
Chinua Achebe’s memoir, There was a Country, has largely been dismissed as an Igbo ethnic apologia that exemplifies at best a retrogressive writing. Explained as a characteristic of the collapse of realist writing, Biodun Jeyifo especially dismisses the memoir as a reductionist ethnicisation of the Nigerian civil war history. This essay however will carry out a reading of Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country as a counter-narrative of the Nigerian civil war history. It will show how individual memory of the past helps to (re)construct, revise, and retrieve silenced and marginalised voices of history, as well as reformulate the collective memory of the present. As Richard Werbner has observed, states appropriate personal experiences of individuals in the formation of national memory in the contemporary constructions of national memories in Africa. Memoir writing then may suggest a postmodernist retrieval of silenced and marginalised memories that counter the master-narratives of the past, master-narratives that have been constructed, authenticated and upheld by history. Achebe’s memoir provides a fertile site for the exploration of memory as a counter-discourse and a (re)construction of history, as well as ethnic consciousness qua counter-discourse to national consciousness.
Of Modernity, Identity, Sexuality and Belongingness: Problematizing Shifting Relationships in Recent Nigerian Expatriate Fiction.

Remy Oriaku, PhD

University of Ibadan. rori...@gmail.com<mailto:rori...@gmail.com>
Much of recent Nigerian fiction has come from the community of expatriate Nigerian writers. It is not surprising therefore that such writing will privilege diasporic experience of subcultures and the effects of globalization filtered through an essentially Nigerian consciousness that is constantly trying to come to terms with trends around it. Viewed against a fundamentally traditional Nigerian background therefore the individual is acutely conscious of the differing cultures, identities and values in the modern western society on account of which one is assigned the category of the Other and is constrained to assess one’s place in society based on the colour of one’s skin, gender, sexual orientation and marital status. The writers suggest that given the prevalent attitudes to these matters in Nigerian and western societies, younger generations of Nigerians are constrained to evaluate their belongingness wherever they are and sometimes make adjustments. This study will examine the portrayals of the weakening of traditional institutions and values which facilitated social cohesion in the natal country, the ways people grapple with issues of racial and other identities and the notions of home in recent narrative fictions by Chris Abani, Sefi Atta and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Racism, Pan-Africanism and Memory of Historical Injustices: The Autobiographical Musings of Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah
Mr. David Ekanem Udoinwang,
National Productivity Centre. davudo...@gmail.com<mailto:davudo...@gmail.com>
Two autobiographies written by two historical characters namely Kwame Nkrumah and Malcolm X, share some identity affinities that are valuable for re-memorialising African encounter with the West. The two texts came out within the same decade but in different geopolitical and national settings. The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah was published in 1957 in Ghana and re-constructs the events leading to that country’s achievement of sovereignty after a long and turbulent experience of colonial domination and national liberation struggles. The Autobiography of Malcolm X on the other hand was published in 1965 in the United States by an African American at the heat of American anti-Black racism where African Americans became endangered in the flourishing lynch culture and assassination campaigns. Nkrumah’s narrative constructs self-governing Ghana as starting point for African continental superpower envisioned to earn Africans and Black people everywhere full respect and serve as panacea for racial violence and European domination. Malcolm X’s vision of an impossible Black-White harmony in American citizenship during the climaxing tensions of the ‘Black hate’ years might have entered its surprising reversal with the emergence of Black American president about half a century later. Relying on the thematic contexts of the autobiographies of Kwame Nkrumah and Malcolm X, this paper makes a brief critical excursion of the legacies of the two narrative personae in their attempts to construct African nationhood and Black American citizenship.
The Discourse of Race and African Identities as a Tenet For Intertextuality: A Study Of Camara Laye’s Radiance of the King
Akinwande, Bankole Idowu
Adeyemi College of Education. wandu...@yahoo.com
African cultural identities are as important to Africans as a snail to its shell. That perhaps is why African writers could not but write back to re-assert the richness of African culture by subverting the erroneous misconception of Africa as a cultural vacuum. As a result of racial prejudice, Westerners’ attitude to African social milieu is gloomy. To them, Africans only portray anthropological details. The traces of this racial bias could be seen in some of their literatures such as Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, Joyce Cary’s Mister Johnson, Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines among others which are full of passages highlighting a complex series of evasion and egoism against Africa and her people. The constant repetition of such words as “incomprehensible”, ‘inscrutable’, and “blank” in Conrad’s text in particular betrays European subjective portrayal of African culture. Meanwhile, to place African society in the right context, the representations of European attitudes to Africa must be kept in view. The said gaps, omissions, silences, absences perceived in the precursor colonial texts were given careful attention by African writers. The deconstructed precursor colonial texts thereby become intertexts to the master texts; thus, creating room for Intertextuality to manifest. This notion has motivated this research to examine the discourse of race and African identities as a sound tenet for Intertextuality in Camara Laye’s Radiance of the King. The study adopted the theory of post structuralism as its theoretical base.

Xenophobia in Africa: The Reciprocity For Ineffective Cultural Management

Osedebamen David Oamen, Ph.D
Ambrose Alli University. forth...@yahoo.com

This study examined xenophobia in Africa as an agent of fear which brews hatred, anger and destruction in families, communities, towns and nations. It strives to unwrap the courses of xenophobia which are wrapped in religion, storytelling, idioms, parables, ethnicity and feudal history. In contemporary times, at the national and political levels, it includes electoral manipulations, monarchtocracy, and tribalism in public office. At the international level, xenophobia is fueled by diverse support for the struggle for national resources, ethno-political struggle, illegal arms deal and unholy alliance by militants in neighbouring states. It examined the Cultural Charter of Organization of African Unity now applicable in African Union, which intended to eradicate or reduce xenophobia and its agents to the barest minimum. The intent of the Charter has not been achieved as a result of ineffective implementation of the Charter. The study further argued that the ineffective implementation of the Charter is responsible in recent times for the high level of xenophobia in Africa. This has turned the continent into the most crises ridden or next to the most crises ridden in the world. The finding of this study revealed that xenophobia has strip Africa of peace, as a result of endless wars, thereby, denying Africa of peace which is essential in development. It was further revealed that xenophobia and its agents have set brother against brother, community against community and nation against nation in Africa, thereby pushing Africans to increase their financial capital on arms and ammunitions to fight their brothers, kinsmen, neighbours in war initiated in xenophobic tendencies. This paper examined the core objectives of African Union Cultural Charter and its anti-xenophobia and submitted that, if the Cultural Charter of Africa is effectively implemented at local and international levels, it will aid the resolution of xenophobia disputes and enhances “our brother’s keeper spirit.”






Along Ethnicity or Religion, the Evolution of Good Governance in Africa?
Ijaola, Samson Oluwatope
Samuel Adegboyega University...@yahoo.com
From West to Central and as far as East Africa, religion and ethnicity have become tools of violence, machineries of mass murder and time bomb in most electoral exercise. It appears that the contemporary Africa still divide either over religion or ethnicity and a times both, owing to their political interest. Sudan recently divided into two nations along side of ethnicity and religion after years of war and killing of thousands of people. Mali again is almost going the way of ethnic and particularly religious wars as religious traditions oppose economic politics of the government; and Ghana appears to be sitting on gun powder with Muslims who dominated the Northern Ghana are contesting their true population.
The division over religion or ethnicity such as evident in Kenya and Nigeria elections lately brings up the concerns for good governance in Africa. The questions are that, how has good governance fair in the politics of religion and ethnicity that pervade Africa, and would good governance evolved from either ethnic orientation or religious beliefs and perhaps a combination of the two? If either yes or nay, to what extent should ethnic coloured and religious biased politics be allowed to channel the course of governance in Africa? Lastly, how should Africans define the parameters for good governance in their multi religious and pluralistic context where religions and ethnic groups are often on the logger head? The paper therefore explores a descriptive approach to draw home an inference that neither religion nor ethnicity would bring about the evolution of good governance despite their intangible values necessary for it.
KEY WORDS: Ethnicity, Religion, Evolution, Good Governance, Africa
The Challenges of Growth and Development: Cultural Pluralism in Kannywood
Ibrahim Daniel
University of Ibadan. daniel...@gmail.com
Mulvey (1975) predicted long ago, the possibility of an alternative (artisan) cinema co-existing side by side with the advanced cinema of the west. In Africa, many factors such as the expansion in the use of ICT gadgets, the availability of cheap digital filming and editing technologies, have led to the emergence of an artisan cinema culture. This new cinema culture, despite its artisan nature, has been providing its numerous audiences with spectacle, pleasure and visual entrainment. In the Northern part of Nigeria, among the Hausa people, a vibrant indigenous film industry has emerged. This industry is generally known as Kannywood. One salient feature of Kannywood is cultural pluralism. Like most film industries, Kannywood is a potpourri of different cultures. The fusing together of different cultural elements as part of Hausa film has generated intense debates, apathy and animosities towards the Hausa film industry. It is against this background, this paper examines the challenges of cultural pluralism in Kannywood.
Keywords: Kannywood, ICT, Cultural Pluralism, Challenge, Apathy.
ABIKU MYTH: A syndromatic recreation of racial paradigm in Nigeria’s inter-ethnic Palavers – A reading of Kole Omotosho’s Just before Dawn

Samuel Yemi Olugbamigbe

Adeyemi College of Education. yemiolu...@yahoo.co.uk
Abiku, in the context of this paper is analysed as a metaphor for the syndrome of chains of difficulties, pains, or problems which are regenerative, cyclical and indeterminate in nature. The paper intends to establish that consciously, the whites came to create a nation-state in Nigeria from naturally repelling and incongruous constituent ethnic groups. From the circumstances and the faulty genetic conjugation, this emergent nation was doomed to suffer like a child with the sickle cell anaemia. Using the “faction” world of Kole Omotosho in Just before Dawn as a point of reference, the paper examines the realities of the places of the various ethnic groups of Nigeria in the country’s problems of nationhood. The conclusion is that the white colonial masters pre-orchestrated this volatile inter ethnic situation so that the West would continue to benefit from the endemic socio-political imbalance and its traumatic implication in Nigeria.
The Ethno Religious Dimensions of the 2011 Election and Its Roles in the Post Election Violence
Lucky Igohosa, UGBUDIAN
French Institute for Research in Africa.Luck...@yahoo.com<mailto:Luckysen...@yahoo.com>
Prelude to the 2011 general elections witnessed the unprecedented reemergence of ethno-religious divisive tendencies hitherto unseen in the fourth republic. The background of the heighten ethno religious divisive designs could be traced to the death of the President Musa Yar‘Adua in May 2010 that somewhat altered the power rotation principle in the dominant People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The death of the President led to the elevation of the vice as enshrined in the nation’s constitution and the subsequent interest of the elevated President Jonathan Goodluck in contesting the 2011 presidential elections transformed and renewed the ethno religious tendencies existing in the country.
The ethno religious transformed and charged nation particularly within the ruling PDP encountered campaign of calumny anchored on religion and ethnicity. The emergence of President Jonathan as the PDP’s candidate further polarized the polity rather than abate it as the religious and ethnicity became the trump cards between the major candidates namely, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian southern and General Muhammadu Buhari, northern Muslim. The post election violence where almost one thousand persons died testifies to the implications of the ethno religious divisiveness.
The paper focuses on the 2011 presidential election and the post election violence. It documents and analyses the ethno religious events that culminated in the destructive post election violence.
The paper made used of newspapers, archival sources and books which were analysed descriptively and qualitatively. While frustration aggression and predendal politics theories served as frameworks.
(Re)-Emergence of Slavery In 21st Century: A Reading of Chika Unigwe’s on Black Sisters’ Street and Ifeanyi Ajaegbo’s Sarah House
Akinyele, Akinbimpe Akintayo
University Of Ibadan. Tel...@Yahoo.Com
Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to live their life as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'. Slavery today, despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practiced, continues to reign supremely. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Despite this, contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race. In this paper, an endeavour is made to examine the portrait of human trafficking, forceful migration and prostitution as forms of modern-day slavery in Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street and Ifeanyi Ajaegbo’s Sarah House. Human trafficking involves sexual trafficking. Sexual trafficking consists of prostitution and other sex crime issues. This paper examines how the victims in these texts are forced and coerced into prostitution. Deploying the postcolonial theory, the methodology involves a close reading of the selected texts, with a view to foregrounding how each imaginatively depicts the emotional, psychological and socio-political deprivation of the victims of the modern-day slavery. The paper concludes that the two selected texts offer a quintessential portrait of the re-enactment of slavery even after its abolition in this 21st century.

If We Must Die: Representations of the Lynched Black Body in African American Literature

Dr. Karlos K. Hill

Texas Tech University. karlo...@ttu.edu<mailto:karlo...@ttu.edu> or karlo...@gmail.com

This paper explores cultural representations of punishment in early twentieth century African American literature. It examines contemporary American attitudes toward lynching in relationship to the varied historically meanings lynching has held for African Americans. In general, most Americans remember lynching as the ultimate symbol of black punishment and dehumanization. This paper challenges this deeply ingrained idea through documenting how early twentieth century African American novelists employed representations of the lynched black body to ironically affirm black humanity. Specifically, through an analysis of seminal black novelists such as Sutton Griggs’ The Hindered Hand, or the Rein of the Repressionist (1905), and especially Richard Wright’s novellas in Uncle Tom’s Children (1935), this paper demonstrates how the construction of a literary critique of the lynched black body countered heroic portrayals of white lynch mob violence but more importantly reframed the lynched black body as a potent symbol of black manhood. Through contrasting contemporary Americans’ perceptions of the lynched black body as a dehumanized subject with early twentieth century African American writers’ portrayal of the lynched black body as the epitome of black masculine courage, my goal is emphasize how specific cultural and historical contexts shape interpretive paradigms for explaining the meaning and significance of punishment.

Keywords: Lynching, Torture, Representations, African American/African Diaspora Literature
Language and Cross-Cultural Solidarity in Northern Nigeria and
the Southern Parts of Lake Chad and Niger Republic
Olubunmi Ogunseye Adebayo
Obafemi Awolowo University
Language has been a distinct feature and a unique force of communication since the inception of the world, and it has since then remains the bridge that links up and builds all the various activities of man that makes him flourish even as he thrives. It is no gainsaying that ethnic solidarity has language as its mainstream that culturally binds people for total well-being and all encompassing progress. The Hausa speaking people of the up-North in Nigeria and the Hausa speaking people of the Niger and Chad Republics have in time past, and up until now enjoy numerous benefits which range from the political, cultural to the socio-economical relations. Most of the northern states in Nigeria are dominated by three ethnic groups, Kanuri, Hausa and the Fulani. The first, the Kanuri, are also found in the northeastern corner around Lake Chad. The Hausa is another dominant group found in Niger Republic. The third ethnic group, the Fulani are scattered throughout all of northern parts of Nigeria and Niger republic. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to address the cultural affinity vis-à-vis the political solidarity between and among the people in the Northern part of Nigeria and the Southern parts of Niger and Chad Republics. This paper would also assess the psychodynamics of language and its impact on the ethnic solidarity among people of divergent cultural background in these regions.
Keywords: Language, Ethnicity, Culture, Solidarity, Communication



The Politicisation of Gender Issues in the Nigerian Polity: A Critque

Damilola Taiye AGBALAJOBI

Obafemi Awolowo University. lola...@yahoo.com<mailto:lola...@yahoo.com>; dtagba...@oauife.edu.ng<mailto:dtagba...@oauife.edu.ng>
To a considerable extent, gender has been a subsidiary issue in Nigeria’s society. The traditional social structures have been offering limited incentives for amending the existing distribution of power between men and women. To this extent, political gladiators have discovered that gender issues could garner them needed support in their quest for power. Those in political offices would want to appoint female officials to show how they care about feminist issues. The opposition would want to stress the need to involve more women in governance, to show how they would have cared better for women. This paper examines the extent of inequalities in the Nigerian political and ethical setting by exploring the high level of victimization and marginalisation of the women fold within the context of the stereotypical culture that exists in the Nigerian society. The paper identifies the differential status that exists between men and women and the contribution of both to the prevailing social system. It explores what people perceive gender to be and how they discriminate between the two main genders. The paper also examines how political gladiators politicize gender issues to their own benefit and proffers remedies to check them.
Keyword: Politicisation, Gender Issues, Nigerian Polity and Democracy.



Elechi Amadi’s Estrangement: A Product of Post-War Experiences of Women in Kenke-Village Aluu-Portharcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria.
Gloria Eme. Worugji
University Of Calabar .Ajieleeme @ Yahoo. Com
This paper discusses the various phases of development experienced by the Kenke village women in the fictional work of Elechi Amadi, in their quest for freedom and survival. The paper highlights the extent to which women are exploited at war times and discriminated against in socio-economic relations in the society. Though a fictional work, the experiences of women as shown in the novel, is not different from what exist in many Nigerian rural communities today. This paper suggests the need for Nigeria to make policies and laws directed at eliminating All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Gender Equality, as the struggle for gender equality and non discrimination against women are topmost globally.
Key Words: Post-War, Expeiences,Women, Kenke - Village
Cultural Stereotypes and Domestic Violence in Nigeria:
A Socio-Legal Perspective
OMOBAMIDELE O. OLUFEMI
Babcock University. omobamide...@yahoo.com<mailto:omobamide...@yahoo.com>
Domestic violence appears to have been narrowed to some specifics, such as psychological, physical cultural, economic, emotional, sociologicaletc. Many women have in fact accepted most times unconsciously, these violent trends as normal; a way of life without realising they are being abused. This paper seeks to discuss the values, language, proverbs,traditions,cultural beliefs,religion mind-sets etc., of different ethnic groups in Nigeria as catalyst for domestic violence among the people.
Interestingly, of all the major ethnic groups, the Yoruba who occupy generally the south west of Nigeria appear to be the most liberal (though not all together absolved from incidents of domestic violence.)
The paper will consider the issues of domestic violence from a socio-legal perspective and suggest possible reforms.

Colorism in Black and White: A Study of Color Consciousness/Preference Among
College Students in the Mid-West
Jeanine Pittman, B.A.&Henry J. Grubb, Ph.D.
University of Dubuque. hgr...@dbq.edu
Fifty-five undergraduate college students at a mid-western university volunteered to fill out a survey designed to reveal their feelings/thoughts concerning colorism: biases and preferences toward skin coloration. Thirty-four and twenty-one males took part in the study. Students were given a five page “Preference Survey. The survey began with a few by asking a few demographic questions of the participants, including age, race, marital status, height, weight, handedness and sexual orientation. Section two of the survey had students answer questions concerning dating preferences. The final set of questions was self-evaluative. Students were asked to list those aspects of self they least liked, and what traits they wished to change. They were also asked to rate themselves on “overall attractiveness” and “skin color” satisfaction. The last two responses were recorded on a seven point likert scales. The final two questions involved (1) rating their skin color against a 36 degree spectrum of colors ranging from pure “white” to total “black” and (2) choosing their corresponding preferred skin color from the same 36 choice grid. Results revealed a clear preference for darker skin in White females; a tendency toward lighter skin in Black females; while White males were about equally split over desiring to be darker and their own skin color. Black males were uniformly comfortable with their current skin tone, all choosing their current shade as their preferred tone. Discussion focuses on why the authors believe they obtained the current results and what this says about the current state of color consciousness.

The Dysfunctional Interplay Between Health, Ethnicity, Religion and Underdevelopment in Nigeria
Oluwatoyin A. Asojo PhD
Baylor College of Medicine Houston Texas. As...@bcm.edu<mailto:As...@bcm.edu>
Our recent PLOS paper opens with the sentence “Among all of the African nations, Nigeria has the greatest number of people infected with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). With the right political will, the country has sufficient resources to expand its current investments for the important work of Nigeria's NTD program”.NTDs, including hookworm, leprosy, river blindness, and other diseases hold communities in cycles of poverty and underdevelopment. Our PLOS paper identified the need of increased government investment to control NTDs andimprove the health status of the Nigerian populace. However, there are other underlying factors that currently counteract any gains from medical or government intervention in Nigeria. A classic example of this was the 2003 polio debacle in Nigeria, where refusal to vaccinate in Northern Nigeria resulted in a resurgence of polio in other parts of West Africa. The Yoruba proverb states Èkòlólègùntóejò, ṣùgbọ́noróinúwọnyàtọ̀; the earthworm may be as long as the snake, but the venoms they carry differ in potency. Like a multi-headed venomous snake, factors such as ethnicity, religion, and poverty influence individual and community health as well as development in Nigeria in complex and often deleterious ways. We will examine the dysfunctional interplay between these factors and individual and community health. Specific examples to be explored include the ‘polio palaver’ in Nigeria, cultural attitudes to maternal health, how religion, superstitions, witchcraft, and faith healing affect health outcomes. Our overall goal for this paper is to provide analyses that could facilitate solutions to prevent these factors from undermining future gains in health programs and development goals.
Whiteness, Distance, and Hospitability in Luanda
Dr. Madalina Florescu
Universidade do Porto, Portugal. ngom...@gmail.com<mailto:ngom...@gmail.com>
Bela once asked me if my mother was also white. She thought I was perhaps a mulatta, because of our mutual sympathy that made us spend time together talking and drinking beer in the becos of Luanda, because I wanted to learn her native language Kimbundu, because I wrote a letter for her to a man she loved, because outside Catholic missions we were “in the forest”, and because I went to her house and slept there. But I was also indubitably a white woman (branca, mundele). Her neighbours and relatives, upon hearing that I had slept in her house had come to see with their own eyes the exact place where I had slept, exclaiming “eh! that white woman slept here!”, and they would not believe their ears that a white woman had slept in Bela’s house. Then, when she imagined us travelling to her home town north of the city of Malange, she asked me perplexed “could you eat funje (cassava meal) and kissaka (meal of cassava leaves) every day, in the morning and in the evening, day after day, without getting tired of it?” And “are you not going to have diarrhea if you drink water from the rivers?” My incapacity to be nourished with cassava and the water from the rivers had been her elder sister’s chief objection to my “visit” there. This paper teases out the epistemological relation between notions of “difference” and “distance” in the social construction of “hospitable strangers” in Luanda.

Xenophobia, Trust and the Rainbow Nation: Exploring the Role Played by Social Trust in Determining Attitudes towards Immigrants in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Steven Gordon
South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). sgo...@hsrc.ac.za<mailto:sgo...@hsrc.ac.za>
Violence against foreign nationals has raised concerns about social cohesion in South African communities, particularly in the period following the May 2008 anti-immigrant riots which felt 62 dead and more than a hundred thousand displaced.Xenophobia in South Africa has been linked to economic competition and growing social distrustwithin South African communities. The literature on social capital has argued that those communities whose members have high levels of social trust will have more positive attitudes towards outgroups such as foreign nationals. However, social trust has not been examined as an independent variable in studies examining determinants ofattitudes towards immigrants in an African context.This article will explore the role played by social trust in determining attitudes towards foreigners in order to improve our knowledge of what drives anti-immigrant sentiments in South Africa. The article will use the 2012 round of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) –an annual nationally representative survey with a probability sample of adults aged 16 years and over living in private households–with a sample of 2,520. Ordered logit regression will be used to test the ‘social trust’ hypothesis.The analysis will control for socio-economic status -measured by educational attainment, employment status and subjective wealth evaluation -as well as contact with immigrants. The main conclusions of this analysis are that social trust and economic status seem to play a lesser role in the explanation of anti-immigrant attitudes than may be assumed while contact was found to be a stronger predictor of attitudes.

Xenophobia, Intra-Racism and The Politics of Exclusion: The Realities and Dynamics of Xenophobic Violence in South Africa.
Chiwueze Benedict Udeh, Prof.Nwabufo-Okeke Uzodike and Dr. Chris .A. Isike
University of KwaZulu-Natal and University of ZuluLand,

mrbenedi...@gmail.com<mailto:mrbenedi...@gmail.com>, uzo...@ukzn.ac.za<mailto:uzo...@ukzn.ac.za>, cs...@pan.uzulu.ac.za<mailto:cs...@pan.uzulu.ac.za>
The xenophobic violence of May 2008 in South Africa goes beyond the surface analysis/definition as mare hatred for foreigners. This paper exposes the various dynamics to xenophobic violence in South Africa and the deep rooted causes. The various dimensions to the xenophobic violence in South Africa as indicated in this work includes: The already laid foundations of the defunct apartheid government, the culture of entitlements, capitalism, poverty,tribalism, classification, politics and the racist dimensions.
However, a thorough analysis carried out by the authors of this work indicates that xenophobia is not peculiar to South Africa but rather has become a growing global phenomenon, although xenophobia in South Africa remains unique in the sense that it is targeted at mainly black African migrants.
Keywords:Xenophobia, Violence, Exclusion Politics, Afrophobia, Negrophobia, Intra-racism

Human Trafficking as a Means of Displacement And Dispossession: A Case Study of Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Merchants of Flesh and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked
Olaniyan Solomon O.
University Of Ibadan. venola...@yahoo.com<mailto:venola...@yahoo.com>
Literature in African context is indubitably a reflection, representation and re-presentation of social realities. This century has produced many Nigerian novelists whose thematic preoccupations cannot be ignored in literary scholarship. One of the subjects about which contemporary Nigerian novelists have written is the menace of human trafficking. This 21st century social malady has masterminded the displacement and dispossession of many young ones. However, the motif of human trafficking in the novels of Nigerian writers is yet to be adequately studied. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that this paper sets to examine the menace of human trafficking as a means of displacement and dispossession in Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Merchants of Flesh and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked. The paper examines various factors responsible for the physical, psychological, cultural and psycho-emotional displacement and dispossession in contemporary Nigerian novels as exemplified in the selected novels. The paper submits that human trafficking is a means through which many people have been displaced and of course, dispossessed. The fact that many citizens of the Third-World have been displaced and dispossessed cannot be gainsaid. This is, however, due to certain factors. These factors include high rate of poverty, continuing increase in criminality, unemployment, parentage problem, socio-political-cum-religious violence, corruption and natural disaster. All these aid displacement and dispossession of citizens of the developing countries as revealed in the texts. From the study, it is revealed that contemporary Nigerian novels are committed to probing contemporaneous issues in a view to conscientising the public and correcting the social ills.
Key words: dispossession and displacement, human trafficking.






Cultural Diversity and the Challenge of Intra-Racial Conflict in Nigeria
Mashood Omotosho Ph.D
Obafemi Awolowo University....@yahoo.com<mailto:mashom...@yahoo.com>
momo...@oauife.edu.ng
In the last two decades, intra-racial tensions and conflict with ethnic undertones have littered the political landscape of Nigeria which has resulted into blood-letting and the greatest human and material destruction. The menaces of inter-racial conflict and pervasive ethnic hostilities in different parts of the country have posed serious threats to the survival of the Nigerian state. This could be seen in the crises between the Beroms, Anagutas, Afizeres and the Hausa-Fulanis in the Middle Belt, Umuleri and Aguleri in Anambra state, Ife-Modakeke in Osun State, Ijaw and Itsekiri in the Niger Delta. The South West also witnessed intractable, interpenetrated ethnic strife stretching between the Yorubas and the Hausa settlers in the Shagamu, Ogun state and some parts of Lagos state, the Ijaw and the Ilaje people in Ondo State. However, the instrumentalisation of cultural differences and belongings is often seen as one of the dominant causes of conflicts in the country. Based on experiences of communal and intra-racial conflict in the country, the study explores cultural diversity and the challenge of ethnic conflict in Nigeria. It also seeks to enrich our understanding of the role played by cultural expressions and identities in triggering or exacerbating conflicts based on factors of nationality, ethnicity and language. The study further explores a set of methodological proposals for the elaboration of indicators on cultural diversity and conflict prevention. The study also examines the viability of tools and resources available to foster intercultural dialogue between different ethnic groupings in the country. More precisely, it makes suggestions on how cultural diversity could be seen as an asset in conflict prevention, mediation and resolution in Nigeria.
Keywords: Cultural Diversity, Intra-Racial, Ethnicity, Conflict, Settlers, Mediation, Resolution







Shortage of African American Teachers in the Public Schools in the United States: What can be done about it?
Queen Ogbomo,Ph.D
Tennessee Technological University. qog...@tntech.edu<mailto:qog...@tntech.edu>
This study stems from my observation of the low representation of African American teachers withinpublic school systems that I taught in two different states in the US namely, Illinois and Michigan. Researches show that there is a shortage of African American teachersin most urban and rural schools. There are significant numbers of African American children in many of these school districts; students who need teachers who understand their cultural background and the issuesthey deal with in their everyday lives. Despite the need for role models for these students, studies show that the numbers of African American teachers continue to decline. This paper will first of all identify why there is a shortage of African American teachers in the public school system. This paper will also focus on how to recruit and retain African American students in colleges of education with the hope of graduating more African American students to become teachers.This paper will also discuss what universities should do to address this problem. The paper argues that it is important to encourage more African Americans to enter into the teaching profession.
Broken Ties and Kinship Identities : a Contemporary Family Reality
Dr Yetunde Akorede
Adeyemi College of Education. yetun...@live.co.uk
The traditional African family has a culture of deep and intimate intra-generational relationships,where there is strong family reference and identity, and this formed the platform for ethnic and family continuity. Family and ethnic ties and kinship were the bedrock for communal and family relationships. Family contributions were highly valued in both mundane and important decisions that affect the welfare of individuals within the immediate and extended family. In the precolonial African family, a child belonged to the family, and by extension to the community. This implied that the training of the child was a collective responsibility. For this to be effective, the child recognised every adult in the family and community as her/his parents and she/he gave them their due regard. However, with the advent of western culture and the acquisition of western education, values, principles, philosophy and religion, the traditional values of family unity and cohesion have been eroded bringing in a redefinition of family relationship and intra-ethnic societal interactions. The search for greener pastures and desirable professional placements also reintroduced absentee relations in the immediate and distant diaspora. There has been an increase and widening gap within intra-family and generatitonal affinity and identity such that the members of the newer /younger age groups can scarcely know the names of their immediate grandparents. Such gaps lead to loss in family history, family values, family pride based on ancestral contributions and achievements. These treasured and lost information culminate in the communal and cultural image and identities of individual ethnic groups and families within the groups. This paper is a report of an empirical study which employs interviews, focused group discussions and questionnaires to investigate the degree of relationship and identity of respondents between ages eighteen and thirty with the members of their extended families and their ethnic backgrounds.

Post- Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Africa and African Diaspora: Perspectives on Religious
Traditions’ Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages
Ibigbolade Aderibigbe PhD and Adepeju Johnson-Bashua PhD
University of Georgia and Lagos State University
iade...@uga.edu<mailto:iade...@uga.edu>, peju_...@yahoo.com<mailto:peju_...@yahoo.com>
The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade had immense impact on the religious competitive space of the African Continent and its Diaspora. Three religions, African Indigenous Religion, Christianity and Islam constituted the major “dramatis Personae” of this experience. Without any doubt, the three religions had different levels of competitive presence in pre- Trans-Atlantic slave trade Africa. However the propensity of the dynamics of the trade changed and perpetually institutionalized advantages and disadvantages that are substantial departures from the religious contextualities of pre Trans- Atlantic trade Africa and African Diaspora. Within this context, the Christian religion, through the activities of missionaries and the collaboration of various colonial authorities became competitively advantageous. At the opposite end, the African indigenous religion suffered the most, not only through depopulation of its adherents by the slave trade, but also and more formidably through the onslaught of the Christian missions.
However while the advantage of Christianity, and to some extent Islam, became extensively permanent in post Trans-Atlantic salve trade Africa, the Indigenous religion(s) of Africa as African Derived religions have succeeded in preventing the “liquidation” of the African religious identity in the “New World” (The Americas/Diaspora). Today, these religions have become the bastions of the sustainability of the African religious beliefs and rites- though syncretic formats as Neo- African Religions.

Urban Youth and Ethnic Identity in Nigeria’s Multilingual and Sociocultural Space
Sogunro, Bolanle Olufumbi, (PhD)
University of Ibadan. fumb...@yahoo.com
The connection between language and ethnicity is that most of the time, human collectives are formed based on the symbol of a shared language. In Nigeria’s complex multilingual setting, the English language serves as the language of interethnic communication and over the years, it has evolved into a home grown variety, indigenised to suit its socio-cultural environment. Generally referred to as Nigerian English (NE), this is the most documented variety of English in West Africa; however, previous studies focus on providing a national broad description of an assumed homogenous variety, or at best, give a regional description of the characteristics of NE, without giving consideration to the dynamics of ethnic identification in Nigeria’s multi-cultural social space. This paper, therefore, examines NE from the perspective of how urban youth use accentual variation to convey their ethnolinguistic identity through the medium of English as a second language. Using the Variationist framework made popular by Labov, the study conducts a comparative empirical socio-phonological investigation of accentual features of NE on the basis of ethnicity in order to ascertain if, and to what extent educated Nigerian youths express their separate ethnic identities through a national onetime foreign medium. The audio recorded speech samples of randomly selected respondents belonging to the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) in Kano, Enugu, and Ibadan: these being urban communities in three of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, constitute the primary source of data for the study.





Nutrition Status of Refugees and Displaced People in Nigeria: a Case Study of Oru Refugee Camp of Ogun State.
Olarewaju C.A. and Olayiwola I.O.
Sub-Sahara Africa has a high percentage of refugees due to civil war in many countries. Between 1993 and 1998, about 18 million people were refugees or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) in the region (ACC/SCN 1998). This study assesses the nutritional status of adolescents in the only refugee camp in Nigeria, located at Oru in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State. A total of 150 subjects were randomly selected and were administered a pre-tested questionnaire. The demographic characteristics such as age, sex, nationality, educational level and occupation were analyzed. The nutritional status of the subjects was assessed using anthropometric indices of weight-for-age (underweight), height-for-age (stunted), body-mass-index (BMI) and mid-upper-arm-circumference (MUAC). Nutrients intake was evaluated using food composition tables. Of the 150n subjects, 48.7% were female and 51.3% were male, 44.7% were in age brackets of 10-14 years and 53.3% were 15-19 years old. 81.3%came from Liberia, 18% from Sierra Leone and 0.7% from Congo. The height-for-age ranged from 143.97cm to 165.16cm, weight-for-age ranged from 38.07kg to 58.06kg. Males had a higher food intake than females. Mean energy intake was less than half the RDA values. The overall nutritional status indices obtained in this study were generally low. General food distribution should be continued in the camp to accomplish and maintain a good nutritional status for the refugees.

Reflections on Self and Human Rights
Oyowe Oritsegbubemi Anthony
The paper is based on the hypothesis that our models of selfhood almost always inform the socio-political institutions and practices we adopt. The paper explores several lines of argumentation in advancing the thesis that there are rational pressures compelling us towards a metaphysic of self that is grounded on the primacy of the individual as opposed to the community as the primary basis of social and political organization, the fundamental object of moral concern and the basis of fundamental moral value. Such a metaphysic of self promises a more plausible grounding for human rights than its immediate rival, which takes community to be the fundamental moral value. By navigating through some key trends in the history of African philosophy, the paper makes a strong case for a history of self in African thought that is more individualistic than the prevailing ones. Although it does not propose any substantive or complete conception of self, the paper argues that adopting this alternative individualistic model of self entails dispensing with the notion of a communal self metaphysically construed as well as the assumption that the community is the bearer of ultimate moral value, the sole prescriber of norms and the metric for evaluating the moral status of the individual. It further requires rethinking the notion of community, particularly its role and place in a plausible theory of selfhood that is adequately responsive to the demands of individual rights and liberties.

Dis/Placing Ethnicity in Ola Rotimi’s Theatre
Israel Meriomame WEKPE and Patricia Owens ONI-EDIGIN
University of Benin.isr...@gmail.com<mailto:israel...@gmail.com>,owen...@gmail.com<mailto:owen...@gmail.com>
The Nigerian dramatist Ola Rotimi, to a large extent, embraces the voice of the subaltern which he subtly reinforced in his theatre. This “subaltern agenda” finds relevance by sublimely foregrounding ethnic issues. He places the importance of properly galvanising ethnic issues for socio-political transformation and displaces its application for selfish purposes. In a rather robust manner, Rotimi amplifies these issues through the themes, character and language of his plays. Rotimi’s kaleidoscopic presentation of these ethnic issues at times present as a global representation of the African dilemma. This paper interrogates these varied themes embedded in his theatre by critically analysing some of his plays within the context of ethnicity. The paper extends this analysis to justify Rotimi’s social vision even as it questions his appropriation of certain dramatic devices as testimonial to reinforce his authorial mandate. The paper further interrogates Rotimi’s artistic intention while recognising his own personal ethnic origin. The writers attempt a motivation for his views and submit that Ola Rotimi dramatically squares ethnicity as a vibrant and potent imperative for socio-political change. The paper concludes that the overt manipulation and politicisation of ethnicity to perpetuate hegemony spells fatal repercussions
Building Coalitions for Good Governance in Nigeria: A Myth or Reality
Ajani Oludele Albert PhD
Obafemi Awolowo University,dele...@yahoo.com<mailto:dele...@yahoo.com>, oaj...@oauife.edu.ng<mailto:oaj...@oauife.edu.ng>
Nigeria has had a chequered history of democratic governance in over five decades of its independence, punctuated frequently by dictatorial military rule. The unstable nature of democratic governance has been cited as the main reason for poor development, poor resource management and corruption. In fact, the general belief among local political scholars is that, although violence and corruption were common in the country prior to independence, the military institutionalized both. Democratic governance has been in place in Nigeria since 1999 and the country has witnessed a rapid expansion of the civil society. However, this has not translated into an improved quality of life for the masses in rural and urban areas; human development is at its lowest ebb, violence is rife and poverty is dramatically on the increase. The main thesis of the paper is that political emancipation is a sine qua non for peace and good governance at the national level. Relying on revisionist new liberalist and social capital theories, this paper reviews the empirical evidence on the role of civil society in promoting peace and good governance. It investigates the factors responsible for the expansion of civil society and explores the various pathways through which peace and development could be enhanced in Nigeria.
A sociological Assessment of Causes and Losses of Negative Expressions of Ethnic Variations in Nigeria
ADISA Ademola Lateef (PhD),
Obafemi Awolowo Universit...@oauife.edu.ng/adisaade...@yahoo.com<mailto:ala...@oauife.edu.ng/adisaade...@yahoo.com>
The three cardinal wishes of His Majesty, King George, R.I., conveyed to Nigerians through Sir Frederick Lugard, the Governor-General, on 30th December, 1913 were: Happiness, general welfare of all and great prosperity. In the bid to quickly set out to achieve these lofty objectives, Lugard considered having a single Legislative Council in Lagos as helping to have a truly politically united Nigeria. This was impeded by limited railway connections that made easy communications with a larger proportion of the country challenging. Of worries now is the fact that railway has come and has even been rendered moribund by other faster means, yet the three cardinal objectives are never realized. Instead, Nigerians have got involved in negative, politics-fueled ethno-religious crises. The study, therefore, sets out to: one, find out reasons behind politically motivated, ethno-religious crises in the country and two, account for the losses that have accrued from such hostilities. Adopting a purely qualitative approach, ten scholars and five opinion leaders will each be covered by in-depth interviews, either by face-to-face or with the aid of cell-phones, from the Northern Nigeria, Southwestern and South Eastern Nigeria. Responses obtained will be complemented with submissions in newspapers and magazines. The data will be subjected to content analysis and presentations of ZY Index tables.



Resistance through a Letter: Ex British Southern Cameroons Exiles Imagine Freedom and Independence
Fonkem Achankeng I Ph.D
University of Winconsin. fon...@uwosh.edu<mailto:fon...@uwosh.edu>
This paper explores the resistance of ex-British Southern Cameroons in Cameroon Republic by the Southern Cameroons Peoples Conference in North America (SCPC-NA) through a letter to Cameroon Republic’s Prime Minister on a State Visit to the United States. The paper examines the willingness of a people who, through protests and struggle in North America, want to narrow the gap between the promise of freedom and liberty and the reality of ex-British Southern Cameroons, their homeland. The methodology involves text analysis of a letter from Southern Cameroons’ exiles to the senior government official, and data drawn from primary and secondary sources. Important to the analysis is the fact that the exiles and their people are not bound to an unjust historical past which impacts their present as they imagine the independence of their territory, a former UN trusteeship. The paper concludes with the need in qualitative research to use data collection forms and methods of causal analysis to enhance the struggles of less powerful groups.

Wole Soyinka's Voyage, Isara, and Life Writing
AdetayoAlabi, Ph.D
University of Mississippi. aal...@olemiss.edu<mailto:aal...@olemiss.edu>

In his Author's Note to Isara: A Voyage Around Essay, WoleSoyinka states that he was encouraged to write the book because of Ake: The Years of Childhood, his earlier published autobiography. One of the consequences of Ake for Soyinka was that "rather than assuage a curiosity about a vanishing period of one's existence [, it] only fuelled it, fragments of an incomplete memory returning to haunt one again and again in the personae of representative protagonists of such a period" (vii). The result of this curiosity for a disappearing epoch was the writing of Isara "on a different level of awareness and empathy from that of AKE" (vii). While Ake remains a classical autobiography or a "childhood biography" as Soyinka describes it, Isara develops what James Olney might call the autophylographical framework of African life writing because the writer is directly absent in the life he recreates and he focuses exclusively on an ancestral generation he wasn't part of. This paper will discuss why and how Soyinka the auto/biographer/ life writer creates a world he wasn't directly part of in Isara within the life writing genre and how he extends the African characteristics of the genreto raise questions about identity, community, history, ancestry, nation-building, and globalization. The paper will also examine the implications of Soyinka's choices in Isara for the life writing genre in general.
National Identity in the Multicultural State
Lawrence O. Bamikole (Phd)
University of the West Indies Bamikol...@Yahoo.Com<mailto:bamikol...@yahoo.com>
The concept of national identity has been conceived and used in different ways and for different purposes, especially within the context of a multicultural state. In the first instance, its primordialist interpretation, which sees national identity in terms of ‘blood relation’ can be used by politicians and technocrats to subvert the unity that is paramount to a multicultural state. On the other hand, the social constructivist view, which sees the concept as an ‘artificial contrivance’ can be used by a vicious leadership as a weapon of repression against dissenting voices. In this paper, we shall argue for a middle ground between the primordialist and social constructivist conceptions of identity. This middle ground position suggests that national identity is a dynamic and transformative concept and in the hand of a visionary and committed leadership, national identity is a tool for establishing unity, cooperation, solidarity and development in the multicultural state.
Key words: national identity, primordialist, social constructivist, transformative, leadership, multicultural state.

The Interplay of Law and Equity in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God
Olubukola OLUGASA
Babcock University. buki...@hotmail.com<mailto:buki...@hotmail.com>. Olug...@babcock.edu.ng<mailto:Olug...@babcock.edu.ng>
The late literary legend, Chinua Achebe, may have been celebrated in many ways for his immense contributions to humanity through profound literary works that will perpetually remain beneficial to the world. But hardly have we appreciated his works from legal perspective. Interestingly, in many less developed academic environments, scholars tend to limit their research and academic publications to stereotypes within frameworks of fragmented subjects; fragmented subjects of study for teaching convenience. Perhaps that disposition has restricted robust interdisciplinary research and approach to exploring the real essence of literary works of scholars like Chinua Achebe. It is not peculiar to Nigeria. This paper seeks to bring to life the legal issues deducible from the third of Achebe’s trilogy, namely Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God. The events in the novel show the dilemma of the protagonists in responding appropriately to the changing circumstances of the unwritten and unspoken customary laws of their times. The challenge of choice of appropriate discretion in the face of dynamics of change has foisted on every man the need to take deep consideration of the position of law and equity, even within the shortest possible time, before making a choice. The choice made ultimately determines the fate of man. That appears to be what in literary parlance is couched in the expression “character is fate.” The approach here begins and goes beyond socio-legal perspective to doctrinal analysis of the story in the novel. The paper concludes by using the discourse to reflect the position of a Nigerian in the context of the interplay of law and equity against his customary law requirements, the challenges and the need for reforms and repositioning of customary law in Nigeria’s legal system. The paper in the process shall highlight the existence of well-established legal system in pre-colonial Africa.

Keywords: law, equity, justice, and rules of custom

Beyond The Amnesty: Oil, Social Displacement and Dispossession in the Niger Delta
Iwebunor Okwechime (Ph.D)
Obafemi Awolowo University. bokwe...@yahoo.co.uk<mailto:bokwe...@yahoo.co.uk>
This paper discusses oil, social displacement and dispossession in the Niger Delta in the context of the amnesty. It examines how and why the twin phenomena of dislocation and dispossession have persisted, despite the granting of amnesty to the militants some three years ago. It goes on to locate this problematic in the militarization of the region by the state through the Joint Task Force (JTF) under the guise of ensuring the security of life and property, but actually to provide an enabling environment for capital to thrive in the region . Thus, the paper contends that the dynamics of oil, dislocation and dispossess in the Niger Delta are deeply rooted in the contradictions thrown up by oil-dependent global capitalist system and the processes of globalization, which have fed into and escalated the complex dynamics of social dislocation and dispossession. These contradictions, the paper argues, are patently reflected in, among other things, the penetration of capital into a largely pre-capitalist society, environmental degradation, the nature of development which promotes and sustains differential access to scarce resources, the paradox of poverty amid plenty and the struggle over the control of resources by the inhabitants of the oil-producing communities.
By way of conclusion, the paper notes that, while social dislocation and dispossession pose serious challenges to the development of the oil-rich region, in particular, and the Nigerian state in general, it behoves the Nigerian state to proactively ensure that the factors that spawn social dislocation and dispossession are mitigated.

Recipe for Religious Crises in Nigeria.
Dr. Adefarasin, V.O.
Olabisi Onabanjo University. adefar...@yahoo.com<mailto:adefar...@yahoo.com>
For some time now religious fanaticism has been a recurrent plague in several parts of the World, notably, Northern Ireland, Middle East, Iran, Iraq, India, and recently, Nigeria. Wherever this universal religious phenomenon occurs the result has always been very disastrous, involving loss of many lives, destruction of many valuable properties and socio-political instability. An incredibly great amount of time, energy and funds have been expended to bring religious fanaticism under control. Unfortunately a permanent solution is nowhere forthcoming. Why does religious fanaticism defy solution? Are the proposed solutions inadequate and unrealistic? Could it be that all suggested solutions have not been seriously and painstakingly carried out? Are there people who benefit from the disasters of religious fanaticism, and therefore, would not allow any solution to work? These and other questions have agitated the minds of innocent religious people. While we do not intend to, and cannot in fact, propose solutions to all these questions, we will at least unearth one basic root of religious fanaticism that made its solution impossible and that is its relation with religion.

Effort and Effect in the 2012 Edo State Gubernatorial Election
A.M. Aikoriogie
University of Benin,augustine....@uniben.edu<mailto:augustine....@uniben.edu>,
Analysis of effort and effect of implicatures goes a long way to reveal intentions and interpretations in any discourse. This paper observes that during the 2012 Edo State gubernatorial election, effort and effect enhance the political charisma of politicians. Politicians who give the electorates complex effort are difficult to understand, or worse still, ignored. Hence, the effect of the resulting implicature is weak. Politicians whose statements provide less effort achieve strong effect. It is also observed that for reasons of politeness, neutrality, and avoidance of libel, some politicians decide to give their implicatures defeasibility. The piece of advice is that politicians should avoid scandalous/libelous implicatures. This is a path way to political security.
Keywords: effort; effect; implicature; election.


The Aladura Movement in Western Nigeria : Authentically Christian, Authentically African
Moses Oludele Idowu
President, Artillery Christian Foundation

A wave of indigenous prophetic movements erupted across Africa around the first decade of the 20th Century drawing large crowds from within and without mainline institutional churches. Some of The most prominent of these movements which represent Africa’s first initiative in Christianity includes the Harris Movement in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Ghana; the Garrick Braide Movement in Niger Delta, the Kimbanguist Movement in the Congo, the Zionists in South Africa and the Aladura in Western Nigeria, among others. Led by powerful and charismatic prophet figures they swept whole towns, villages and even in some cases an entire region. Missionary historiography has tended to portray some of these as syncretist, nationalist or political wolves in religious sheep skins, which in virtually all the cases is not so.
This paper examines one of these early movements- the Aladura Movement in Western Nigeria and conclusively shows that in its emergence, development, beliefs and world views the movement is authentically African and authentically Christian- much more so than the mission Christianity.

Imperialism and Religious Intolerance: The Suppression of Early Prophetic Movements in Colonial Nigeria
Moses Oludele Idowu
President, Artillery Christian Foundation
The Early Prophetic Movements had a raw deal in the hands of the imperialists. They were cruelly suppressed and their leaders, the prophet figures were imprisoned for a considerable period of time; all this in an attempt to stop the movements and hinder their progressive course. This paper examines the fate of these movements under the colonial era. Using archival records and materials it conclusively establishes that there was indeed a policy of intolerance against the prophetic movements and all African initiatives in religion especially Christianity.


Ethnic Politics and Elections in Africa: A Paradox
Dr.Osezua, Ehiyamen Mediayanose
Osun State University . osezua...@yahoo.com<mailto:osezua...@yahoo.com>
There is an on-going debate which recent research has revealed that ethnicity in Africa is a social construct of the colonial -era through the reactions of pre-colonial societies to the social, economic, cultural and political forces of colonialism. The plethora of efforts and debate over the past thirty years to reinvent democracy in Africa has dampened the fire of ethnic conflict. They have often made them more intense, and in the past decade have been accompanying by the explosion of violent electoral conflicts, confrontations of “sons of the soil”, that threatens the very bases of social order and cohesion in multi-linguistic ethnic societies.
This work intends to examine the following issues: firstly, to examine whether ethnicity is multidimensional in Africa, as people choose to see ethnicity in terms of their tribal membership (in Nigeria there are dozens of tribes). On the other hand, they can associate themselves with either of the different languages. Secondly, to investigate why ethnic voting, as people vote with their ethnic group because of the widespread expectation that politicians will channel patronage resources to member of their own ethnic groups. Finally looked at the issue of why tribal vs. linguistic voting, as these seem to depend on political institutions. Since institutions change the boundaries of the political arena, they also change the choice. Tribal identities have tended to
dominate during one-party rule, but linguistic identities have tended to dominate under multi-party rule.






(De)Making National Citizens? Nation Building, Ethno-Religious Violence and the Tragedies of the National Youth Service Corps (Nysc) in Nigeria (1999-2013)
Abdul-Gafar Tobi Oshodi
Lagos State University. oshod...@yahoo.com<mailto:oshod...@yahoo.com>
abdulgaf...@lasu.ng.edu<mailto:abdulgaf...@lasu.ng.edu>
Nigeria remains a country of paradox. This paradox is perhaps understandable when the country’s historical trajectory is simultaneously located within post-colonial realities and the possibilities of Pax Nigeriana. Yet even as there seems to be no agreement on the major challenge facing the country, the reality and dangerous manifestations of cultural plurality has remained one of its major challenges. It is against this background that this paper interrogates the operation of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Though the NYSC is one of the oldest nation building mechanisms in post-colonial Nigeria, the institution has been faced with a number of challenges which have ranged from low funding and corruption to the gruesome killing of corps members. This paper while serving as an aspect of a broader long-term research on Nigeria’s national youth service scheme, essentially engages two interrelated questions. First, to what extent is the NYSC’s nation building objective relevant in contemporary Nigeria? Second, how has ethno-religious violence impacted on the scheme? In engaging these questions, the paper highlights the origin and objectives of the scheme with the ultimate goal of identifying areas of successes and tragedies since the 1999 transition to civil rule. Its conclusion is laced with a number of recommendations that speaks to the State on the one hand and the Society on the other hand.
Keywords: Nation building, Ethno-religious violence, and national youth service.

Sexual Predators or Preys: The White Male in Jude Dibia’s Novels
Ifeyinwa Genevieve OKOLO
Federal University Lokoja.sw...@gmail.com/sweet...@yahoo.com<mailto:sweet...@gmail.com/sweet...@yahoo.com>
Using the psychoanalytical concept of “othering”, this paper studies inter-racial sexual relations/relationships in Jude Dibia’s novels - Unbridled, Walking with Shadows, and Blackbird – to show that the role of prey or predator is not domiciled with any race but in the individual. The role of environment (African and Western) is felt in how these sexual relationships are negotiated and managed between and amongst individuals and not in the specific sexual behaviours/contacts made. While the West and Africa share some sentiments and assumptions about sex, some of these sentiments are race specific. The definition of prey/predator is greatly influenced by immediate environment. Both men and women could be sexual preys and/or predators given their socio-economic standing, socio-cultural and religious positioning or beliefs/practices. Dibia in his three novels shows how sexual behaviours, identities, and perceptions are defined and redefined depending on where the centre or margin is located at the point of definition.




A socio-literary interpretation of Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck and its implications for contemporary Nigerian society
Mark Osama IGHILE, Ph.D
Redeemer’s Universit...@gmail.com<mailto:Universit...@gmail.com>
This paper is an attempt at interrogating some socio-political issues within the ambits of literary discourse. Using the conceptual framework of literary stylistics, the paper explores the political and aesthetic dynamics in one of the earliest documentations of Nigerian’s first coup by a participant. Adewale Ademoyega’s work is essentially an eyewitness account of the January 15 1966 coup which a school of thought believes was instrumental in the eventual Nigerian war .In a skillful interplay of several literary and historic genres of writing, the author gives expression to the complex configurations that snowballed into the July 1967 full -blown war. The paper concludes by noting that some of the social and ethno-religious issues that were critical to the eventual national massacre are still prevalent in the contemporary Nigerian polity.

Ethnicity and the Market Metaphor in Nigerian Literature
Solomon Iguanre and Mark Ighile
Backock University and Redeemer’s University. s_ig...@yahoo.com,mig...@gmail.com.
While there have been scholarly efforts at locating socioeconomic register in literary texts, not much work seems to have been done on the metaphoric and aesthetic content of market situations in literary expression vis a vis the ethnic associations and divergent interests. This paper explores the economic dynamics of the market phenomenon in Nigerian literature as a linguistic tool for ethnic expression as well as a sociological construct. It concludes that language, economy and literature have crucial roles to play in the overall political development of the present- day Nigeria.

Ethnic Nationalism, Religious Fundamentalism and Federalism in Nigeria
Olaniyan Vic Modesola
Obafemi Awolowo Universitywww.cfnes.org<http://www.cfnes.org>, desolao...@gmail.com<mailto:desolao...@gmail.com>
Federalism is often regarded as appropriate governmental arrangement for countries with vast ethno-cultural diversities. Nigeria with over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups inherited a federal system from Britain in 1954 and successive governments have attempted, with varying degrees of sincerity and commitment, to operate federal institutions that can accommodate the country’s ethnic, cultural and religious diversities and nurture a sense of national unity. Religious identity waxed stronger than ethnic because of its role in defining man’s identity and spirituality. The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria with its accompanying violence further emphasises the efforts of these two forces in tearing Nigeria apart. Power sharing and integrative approaches tend to recommend very specific institutions to address ethnic and religious conflicts but the manipulation of ethnic consciousness and religious youths by the power elite makes the results of the approaches very infinitesimal.
This paper therefore intends to combine primary and secondary sources of data in explaining why centrifugal forces continually put Nigeria’s federalism in a state of disequilibrium.

Performing Across the Sea: Yoruba Race in Global Space
Bashiru Akande LASISI (PhD)
University of Ibadan, bash...@yahoo.com<mailto:bash...@yahoo.com>, bash...@gmail.com<mailto:bash...@gmail.com>
The source and contents of a drama is expected to shape its presentation. However, if an African play is presented in western world, how much impact does the staging environment has on the effectiveness of communication between the performer and the audience? The objective of this paper therefore was to determine the effectiveness of plays about the Yorubas as presented elsewhere in the western world in projecting the Yoruba race.
The paper is theoretically grounded on Richard Schechner’s Performance theories and used the documentary approach to sociology of drama to content-analyse the selected performances and review the production styles utilized while presenting them in Europe and America.
Findings showed that many dramatists remould and circumvent their productions to suit proscenium and thrust stage and sometimes reduce the length of their productions to agree with the convention of such places. This usually lowers the aesthetic values and affects audience interpretation as many facts about the Yorubas are lost in the process.
The paper concluded that utilizing African theatre presentation style is possible and could be effective when performing in a foreign land. It therefore recommended that our performances should consistently utilize African performance techniques because if we do not blow our trumpets nobody would blow it for us.
Keywords: Race, Space, Stage, Yoruba, Drama

Ijigi: An Edo Ethnic Music Featuring Edo Cultural Identity in Itaogbolu Comunity, Ondo State. Nigeria.
Ayeyemi Ebenezer Oluwatoyin
Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo. Olue...@gmail.com<mailto:Olue...@gmail.com>
Africa is a multiethnic continent with multicultural groups. The cultures: traditions, customs, values, ideals, norms, belief systems, and so on are learned or acquired and shared. Obviously, among the ethnic groups in Nigeria is the Edo people who has her emigrants settled in most part of the country as a result of inter tribal wars before the colonial era. Itaogbolu is a major town in Akure North Local Government in Ondo state of Nigeria which has a strong influence of the Edo culture socially, politically, religiously and economically through the immigrants. However, all societies in the world have cultures that differ from one another. Culture is an attribute not only of individual, but of individuals as members of groups. Cultural identity is a person’s background which constantly reveals and informs ones attachment and belongingness to that background. Enculturation also unifies people through the production of common experience, such as language, dressing, archaeological materials, and of course, Music. Music is world phenomena with innumerable genres categorised into African traditional music, Western music and music of other world cultures. This paper highlights the historical background of how the Edo immigrants in Itaogbolu settled in the town and socio- cultural usage of Ijigi music to showcase their identity in the community.

Ad/Dressing Ethnicity in Nigerian Theatre
Patricia Owens ONI-EDIGIN and Israel Meriomame WEKPE
University of Benin,owen...@gmail.com,israel...@gmail.com<mailto:israel...@gmail.com>
Dressing in the theatre necessarily implies the essence and imperative of costume in telling a story or giving meaning to a performance. Thus, costume offers a prism of interpretation to the concept of a play production. Taking into consideration, this theatrical element, the paper critically examines how costume substantiates ethnicity. The further explores how costume presents as an cultural marker, identifier and interestingly, how it “separates” one group from another while probably creating tensions, conflicts and suspicions. Moreover, the paper recognises the multi-ethnic make-up of Nigeria and observes how costume is obviously appropriated in certain national platforms as socio-political tools of identity. Admittedly, the paper underscores via the analysis of selected texts and performances, these attributes of costumes. The thrust of the paper is further extended when it juxtaposes how some texts and performances which border on the transatlantic have presented costume as a political tool. However, the paper submits and concludes that aside presenting its aesthetic imperative, costume ad/dresses issues of ethno-cultural identity

Indigenous Vocational Trades in South-Western Nigeria in Historical Perspective
Tajudeen Adewumi Adebisi (PhD)
Osun State University. tajudeen...@uniosun.edu.ng<mailto:tajudeen...@uniosun.edu.ng>, jonatha...@yahoo.com<mailto:jonatha...@yahoo.com>
In Southwestern Nigeria, indigenous vocational trades or crafts are clan bound. Vocational trades/crafts are identified with particular families or clans. This trend, to a larger extent, is no longer as it was used to be. The crave for civil employment and ‘white collar’ jobs has adversely affected acquisition of indigenous vocational trades/crafts along family lineage or clan by young men and women. This study, therefore, appraises acquisition of indigenous vocational skills using the instrumentality of history with a view to bringing to fore, those factors which made acquisition of indigenous vocational skills thrive then as opposed to what obtains in the modern day situation. The study aims to highlight various indigenous vocational trades/crafts in which prospective trainees could acquire vocational skills, determines the prospects of indigenous vocational trades/crafts, examine the prerequisites for acquiring indigenous vocational skills. Using available literature and research reports on vocational education development in Nigeria as a basis, the study observes that indigenous vocational trades/crafts are no longer thriving as they used to be. This limitation is evident in the high rates of joblessness, unemployment, and high level of poverty among the youths especially. The study concludes that making indigenous trades/crafts attractive and lucrative will go a long way in reviving the interest of the youths in acquiring indigenous vocational skills. This implies ensuring availability of the necessary amenities that will facilitate thriving of indigenous vocational trades/crafts. This is with a view to working towards recreating a highly industrialized indigenous society which will eventually culminate in industrialized Nigeria.
Key Words: indigenous, vocational trades, family/clan, history, industrialized indigenous society.


Religion and the Formation and Preservation of Cultural Identity in Nigeria
Ogidiama Avwerosuo Osivwi University of Ibadan oos...@yahoo.com<mailto:oos...@yahoo.com>
The notion of missionaries having the Bible in one hand and a gun in the other appears to be an old thought. However, Nigeria like many other African nations still grapple with the preservation of her rich cultural heritage and identity. A lot has been said on how the media, commerce, and politics aid the cultural invasion of the African region. Nevertheless, for this topic to be properly treated, much attention must be given to the roles of religion in cultural identity in Nigeria.
Therefore, this study using the social identity theory, explores the roles of religion in the cultural formation and preservation in Nigeria, and suggests ways to withstand cultural invasion in Nigeria.




The Search for African Identity in the Diasporas
Diana-Abasi Ibanga
University of Lagos, diana_a...@yahoo.com<mailto:diana_a...@yahoo.com>; ibanga....@gmail.com<mailto:ibanga....@gmail.com>
The stark reality of enslavement of the African souls in the periods before 20th century has compromised the identity of the African living in the Diasporas. The African taken to America in enshipment of slave voyages seem to have lost their identity forever. This identity blackout have been occasioned by the resultant loss of language and culture. To salvage the situation, the Africans living in America, for example, adopted the name-tag, African-Americans and Black Americans. However, during his Presidential campaigns in 2007, President Barrack Obama, repeatedly argued in front of television camaras and before crowds of analysts, scholars, businessmen, activists and black leaders that “there does not exist African-American,... but the United States of America”. The campaign tirade has resurrected the debate on the identity of the Africans in diasporas. This paper therefore seeks to examine this issue in the light of historical and contemporary relevance. This shall include an examination of the diaspora question of the African identity as it relates to the past and present culture, language and psychic of the diaspora African. It shall make postulations directed at solving the problem against the fact of the increasingly globalised world.


To Become A Man Is Not A Day Job”: ‘Small Boy’ Domestic Servants in Colonial Nigeria
Uyilawa Usuanlele,
State University of New York, uyilawa....@oswego.edu
Studies of Domesticity in Africa largely concentrate on female domestics, while an insignificant few have also looked at adult male domestics whose services contributed to the colonial economy. But seemingly unknown and neglected in historical studies is the class of male children domestics known as “small boys” who worked alongside the adult male domestics for the European officials as well. This paper examines the development of a “small boy” class of domestic servants in colonial Nigeria, their role of in the domestic service industry and work conditions. It also draws attention to some who made success of individual struggles for self-accomplishment in a constricting colonial environment. The paper relies on archival sources and available published memoirs and some oral interviews. This paper contributes to filling this hiatus in African/Nigerian labour and children’s history.

Politicised Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria
Omotuyi Sunday
Obafemi Awolowo University,omotuy...@yahoo.com
Since the attainment of independence in 1960, ethnic identity, which mainly manifests in electoral contest, has continued to define governance in Nigeria. Quasi-federalism, which some elderstatemen on Nigeria’s politics believe at independence will result in withering away of ethnicism and ushering in a more united entity, has proved to be a pipedream. This has led to politically motivated violent criminal acts in the country. Indeed, the level of electoral-related criminality has assumed a new dimension in which the security operatives have left no one in doubt of their inability to bring this dire situation under control. The Jonathan presidency, which some analysts in country wrongly hoped would restore peace and security by initiating fair representation of ethnic groups in the land was a disastrous calculation, as the security deteriorated sharply after his ascendancy. No thanks to Islamic Boko Haram sect which is believed to have been sponsored by sectional politicians. This paper attempts a critical analysis of politicised ethnicity as a causality of the present state of violent electoral contest and insecurity in the country. The paper concludes by arguing that the much-desired dividends of democracy will elude the nation until it gets it right politically through restructuring of the country that accommodates true federalism.

Migration of Health Care Professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review Essay.
Onaiwu W. Ogbomo, Ph.D.
Western Michigan University
It has been identified that one of the obstacles to health care delivery in Africa has to do with the shortage of health personnel. And one of the contributory factors to this shortage is the increasing migration of African health care professionals to developed countries to seek greener pastures. This migration phenomenon has been referred to as “the Brain Drain” in the health industry. Through a critical review of published research papers, this paper seeks to examine the major issues associated with the problem of brain drain in Africa’s health care sector. The paper will focus on such themes as the causes of brain drain, economic, political and medical costs of brain drain; and effects of the brain drain syndrome on the capacity of African countries to deliver efficient health care to their citizens. The paper will also try to summarize the major views of scholars in the field as to how to stem the problem of migration of health care workers from Africa.
Postcolonialism And Socio-Political Development in Africa: Learning Through the Literary Eyes of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
Adam, Ezinwanyi E. Phd
Babcock University. ezinwa...@yahoo.com, ezii...@gmail.com<mailto:ezii...@gmail.com>
This study presents the fact that the relationship between the white colonialists and the black indigenous population threw up a myriad of socio-political cross fertilization in Africa. The way and manner the Whites related with the Black people, the levels of reactions and response of the black population to the invading socio-political values and standards during the colonial era has been the subject of interesting writings in Africa. Of significance in this class of writing in Kenya is Ngugi Wa Thiong’O’s works. His profound sympathy with his people in their weaknesses, their poverty in the socio-political development in Kenya, and particularly his hatred of exploitation, cruelty and injustice are noteworthy. It is the thrust of this work to critically look at the socio-political change in postcolonial Kenya through the literary eyes of Ngugi in his remarkable and compelling work, Petals of Blood (1977), with a view to establishing the contributions of the work to real socio-political development in Kenya through the approaches of textual criticism, interpretation and post-colonial theory. Thus, the study examines the socio-political development in postcolonial Kenyan society, the lifestyle of people, and the relationships that exist among Kenyan citizens, especially between the rich and poor, the government (ruling class) and the governed (masses). It also establishes the basis for the continued prevalence of the themes of violence, corruption, injustice, disillusionment, decadence and disintegration in contemporary Kenyan literature, in spite of the transformation and change in the socio-political setting of the State.



A Philosophical Appraisal of the Concept of Common Human Origin and the Question of Racism
Aderibigbe M.O (Ph.D.)
Federal University of Technology Akure, mosesad...@yahoo.com<mailto:mosesad...@yahoo.com>
The quest for a definite answer to some certain ageless philosophical questions such as; what is man? What is his origin? What is his destiny? How is he like other beings in the universe, and how does he differ from them?has up-till date, remain fundamental, and begging for answers in all human societies. In spite of several attempts from the religious, scientific, cultural and sociological theories to explain the issue of common origin, the problem of racism with all its contradictions persists. This paper is to critically evaluate on the one hand, the concept of common human origin, using the various theories as a fundamental basis for its justification. On the other hand, examines the issue relating to racism, with the aim of arguing that the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of the universe must start from the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of human existence. The philosophical method of conceptual clarification and reconstruction of idea would be employed to establish the view that man is the key to the understanding of the whole of reality.

Hybridisation of the Politics of Ethno-religious Identity in Nigeria
Dr. Sulaiman Kura
Usmanu Danfodiyo University. syb...@gmail.com<mailto:syb...@gmail.com>
The aim of this study is to examine not the role of ethno-religious identities in the political development of Nigeria, but instead to debunk the popular argument regarding the effect of colonialism in entrenching this identity for its usefulness as instrument of operation and exploitation, and which the post-independence leaders similarly appropriated. The paper is meant to contend that ethnic and religious identities are motive-force of history for themselves and unto themselves that have historically unique modus operandi through which they reproduce themselves. And, this process is irrespective of whether they were and are being manipulated and appropriated for political aggrandisement. It is essentially through the process and strategies of reproduction that ethno-religious identities hybridise themselves thereby becoming dangerous to themselves and unto themselves and especially to political and economic development of Nigeria and many transitional polities in Africa.
Ethnic Music: A Tool for Unity
Oladipo Olufunmilola Temitayo
Adeyemi College of Education. oladipof...@yahoo.com
Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society with over 320 ethnic groups. Multiculturalism in Nigeria has resulted in various ethnic crisis and tribalism. My paper discuses the relevance of music education in the establishment of national identity and unity. Music been a cultural subject can be used as a tool to inculcate the spirit of unity and tolerance among the youths who are future generation of Nigeria. The syllabus of music must emphasize the teaching of various ethnic music, history, beliefs and culture of different tribes in Nigeria which will foster relationship between students from different ethnic backgrounds which will enable them to learn their culture. This will stimulate the spirit of oneness. The paper concludes by examining various ethnic music that teaches culture and unity.

Ethnic Loyalty in Selected Nigeria Video Drama: A Legal Approach
Niyi Adebanjo(Ph.D)
Olabisi Onabanjo University, dradeniy...@yahoo.com<mailto:dradeniy...@yahoo.com>
Law is a major instrument of maintaining cohesion in any nation. Its formulation, codification or unification as well as interpretation are major factors in determining the credibility of the criminal justice system. The letter and spirit of the law are defeated by its subjection to ethnic modulations, interpretation and enforcement. The focus of this paper, therefore, is an examination of the place of ethnic loyalty(or disloyalty) in the administration of justice in Nigeria, through a textual analysis of selected Nigerian Video Drama. How do these characters treat or respond to law? Is there any consciousness of legality in the text? Are the character conscious of their ethnic biases. These and other questions will be answered in this paper. Combining the historical and realist theories, we affirm that good or bad law is a product of ethnics modulation and interpretations. While relying on personal observation of judicial decision as well as character analysis of the selected video texts, we established that law in Nigeria is subject to ethnic manipulation and as such has failed in its role of deterring criminality. We equally affirm that ethnic loyalty or disloyalty is a crucial factor in judicial pronouncement which constitute a major source of the Nigeria Legal System. We conclude that when a particular ethnic group within a multi-ethnic nation, celebrates its individuality,the law of that nation dies and the resulting consequence is anarchy.

Cultural Crisis of Widowhood Inheritance in an African Society
Nasir, Taofiq Olaide
Olabisi Onabanjo University. laid...@yahoo.com
The death of a woman in an African society automatically terminates a marriage completely and for all purposes. The death of the husband on the other hand does not necessarily terminate the marriage neither does it terminate the customary law status of his wife as a married woman. This then means that even in death, the woman remains married to the man and can be shared or inherited by the man’s family just like his any other property. The occurrences is almost as regular and certain as death itself. It is widespread throughout the length and breadth of black Africa. This practice cut across several communities in Africa, from kikuyu in Kenya, to Igala and yorubas in the northern and Southern Nigeria. This paper shall take an explorative voyage into the cultural concept of widowhood inheritance, treatment and relevance and also examine the crisis it develops alongside some feministic ideologues.

Traditonal and Contemporary Ethnic Disposition to Women and Leadership in Yoruba Films
ADAGBADA, Olufadekemi (PhD)
Olabisi Onabanjo University. fade...@yahoo.com<mailto:fade...@yahoo.com>
An ethnic group determines not only the world- view, but also the self-awareness of the members of its group. This is as a result of the socio-acculturation to which each individual person in the group is corporately exposed to. As evident from the films of the Yoruba people of the South-Western part of Nigeria particularly, the female is largely taken and related to in almost all spheres of life as a second fiddle, when compared to the male gender. This patriarchal attitude had being in the past and it continues to rear its ugly head even in the present times. Though there has always been moves by females to reject being besmirched by the male, this paper brings to the fore that, agreed that there are gender-specific roles in all societies, the (African) Yoruba socio-cultural ethos and norms need to be re-viewed and re-worked, in such a way that the female is bred in a cultural system where she becomes self-aware and self-assertive to the extent that she can fully compliment the opposite gender’s effort to contribute to the advancement of her society and the world at large.
KEYWORDS: Ethnicity, Culture, Women, Yoruba, Leadership.
Racial and Ethnic Politics in Autobiographies: A reading of Martin Luther King(Jr)'s The Autobiography of Martin Luther King and Nasir El Rufai's The Accidental Public Servant.
Oreofe Awokoya
Olabisi Onabanjo University. oreofew...@yahoo.com
One of the visions of black writers is the emancipation of the oppressed and freedom from colour discrimination. This vision, which is evident in black autobiographies, has over the years, played a pivotal role in championing the struggle of the proletariat and the oppressed black against the capitalist system. Socialist writers, by accounting their own experiences, have fought for a common purpose of colour liberation, equality and social democracy. Despite this unique vision, the problem which still confronts many autobiographies is the solution they refuse to offer. It is observed that a number of autobiographies with a vision towards racial and ethnic emancipation had no required effect on the polity and have therefore become mere reports of political history. In this paper, our purpose is to attempt a critique of Martin Luther King's The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr and Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai's The Accidental Public Servant. While Martin Luther King's autobiography creates an enormous effect on the future of America, it is not certain that EI-Rufai’s will replicate King in provoking a socialist battle against Nigerian hegemony.
‘Wazobia’ as Tyranny of the Majority in Nigerian Drama
Ameh Dennis Akoh
Osun State University. ameh...@yahoo.co.uk

Democracy, they say, is a game of number, of majority; this is in spite of whether or not the view of this number is right. The Nigerian political space is characterised by "the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority." The word ‘majority’ is therefore used in Nigeria to refer to ‘major’ ethnic groups, ‘major’ languages, etc. This classification has not only affected the configurations of political parties and party politics but also literary productions. In this paper, therefore, I probe into how this situation plays out in two major dramatic works, namely Femi Osofisan’s Yungba Yungba and the Dance Contest, and Tess Onwueme’s The Reign of Wazobia. ‘Wazobia’ is an acronym which is used to represent the three ‘major’ (actually largest) ethnic groups of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. The paper holds that ethnic consideration also influences the imagination of creative writers in the same manner it affects our thinking and erodes our national identity. It further infers that in our search for the popular spirit or national consciousness in Nigerian literature, the wazobia syndrome strengthens ethnic loyalties and animosities and thus may negate the ‘Nigerian identity’.
Initiation and Symbolism - Connotative Tools in the Apartheid Struggle
Mirrored in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead
Stephen O. SOLANKE, Ph.D,
Ajayi Crowther University. mya...@gmail.com
Man’s inhumanity to man is perpetrated through diverse agencies. Twentieth-century South African apartheid was based on racial divides. Fighting this discrimination, the Blacks went into struggle against the Whites. To Athol Fugard et al., in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, a community that cannot fight openly because of fear of arrests, tortures and deaths, assumes other levels of skirmishes. These encoded initiations and symbols are understood by initiates of the struggle. Examining some textual initiatory passages and symbolisms utilized in the struggle, this essay posits that the suppressed create symbolic fighting tools against oppressive policies established by the state or individuals.



Race and Class in the Literature of Caribbean Migration.

Dr Shola Adenekan

University of Leeds. sholaa...@gmail.com<mailto:sholaa...@gmail.com>

The Caribbean has a long history of migration that is tied to European interest in slavery and capitalism. Migration has always been central to the development and underdevelopment of the Caribbean Region. Initially, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Caribbean migration patterns led towards the region with the forced migration of enslaved Africans to work on the plantations. They were followed by Chinese and Indian indentured servants. During this period, some of the islands of the West Indies flourished as trading posts.

Within this context, a strong reliance on migration evolved, and migration became an important part of livelihood, class and societal aspirations. As slavery ended officially on these islands, much of the twentieth century witnessed a significant shift in the patterns of Caribbean migration. Now it was the Caribbean inhabitants – majority of them of African descent – who went away from the region in search of greener pastures. Many enlisted to fight in the two World Wars. Others left to study and work in North America, and in the countries of imperial Europe, especially Britain, and also France and Holland. During these years, the economic and social conditions of the colonial powers worsened steadily and they moved with undue haste to rid themselves of their dependent colonies. As Caribbean people fanned out across these nations, immigration laws steadily began to tighten and prohibitive racist attitudes became more obvious and restrictive.

Using Claude McKay's Home to Harlem, Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Andrea Levy’s Small Island, my paper will examine how Caribbean migration in the 20th century has impacted on racial and class identities, within and outside of the Caribbean. I will also be drawing on several wide-ranging scholarly works on Caribbean migration.

A Visual Conceptualization of Moninkim Dance in Cross River State, Nigeria: Safeguarding the Beauty of Womanhood
Cross River University of Technology.b...@yahoo.com<mailto:blosso...@yahoo.com>
This study focus on the woman as a distinct group with peculiar features, character, styles, and associations that cannot be oversighted in any society. One of such female’s institutions in Cross River State is the concern of this study. One would expect that some of the traditions and customs of the land are becoming extinct because of the effect of acculturation. Though this has been so strong, but has not affected the belief of the woman in terms of graduation from spinstership to marriage which forms the basis of procreation. The girl-child receives her first education at home from her parents and then to school for formal education, after which, she proceeds to the next level which is different in setting, organized according to tradition which ought to be fulfilled before moving to the husband’s home. Norms, values, beliefs of the society are shared, preserved, promoted and presented through such institutions. This study undertakes the history, adaptation, costumes and constitution of Moninkim dance. The highlight is on the cultural identity of womanhood, self care, care of husband/children and basic home chores. This study relies on observations, interviews, literature and pictures to make the point.

Families and Involuntary Exodus: Traditional African and African American Family Life under Slavery
Donald O. Omagu PhD
City University of New York. donom...@yahoo.com<mailto:donom...@yahoo.com>
The concept of family is one of the unifying ideas and most important element in African culture.African family traditions could not be completely replicated in the New World after Africans were forced into slavery. Slave marriages and family ties were not legally recognized by American law and as such enslaved African Americans were denied a secure family life anda slave owner was free to sell husbands from wives, parents from children, and brothers from sisters. About one-third of slave families suffered permanent separation caused by the sale of family members to distant regions to punish some infraction of plantation rules, make money, or to settle an estate after a death in the owner’s family, as well as to pay back a debt. Other reasons may be attributed to the fact that many large slaveholders had numerous plantations and frequently shifted slaves, splitting families in the process as a result of the sale or death of a father or mother. Under such conditions, family ties at best were weak. This paper explore the traditional African family patterns viz- a -viz the family structure of the enslaved and how slavery changed the paradigms of the African family. In addition it examines how slaves sustained a sense of family identity, and how they adapted to the circumstances.

“Till Death or Distance do us Part”: African and Slave Marriage System in the Antebellum South in Comparative Perspective.
Donald O. Omagu PhD
City University of New York. donom...@yahoo.com<mailto:donom...@yahoo.com>
Slave marriages had neither legal recognition nor protection from the abuses and restrictions imposed on them by slave-owners.Slave husbands and wives, without legal recourse, could be separated or sold at their master's will. Slaves often married without the benefit of clergy, and the marriage ceremony in most cases consisted of the slaves simply getting the master's permission and moving into a cabin together. Formal marriage ceremonies for slave couples were generally reserved for house servants. In such cases, slave-owners would have a white minister or a black plantation preacher perform the ceremony, and a large feast and dance in the “quarters” would follow honoring the slave couple. The ceremony could include the slave marriage ritual characterized by “jumping the broom,” and saying vows such as “till death or distances do us part”. This paper discusses how male and female slaves found their pleasure and love wherever possible, knowing however, that attachments would only be temporary. It also offers explanations as to why marriages between slaves were encouraged if at all by many slave owners and the profound impact it had on slaves.




Black Nationalism and Black Renaissance: Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey’s Search for Black Liberation and Identity in Comparative Perspective.
Donald O. Omagu PhD

City University of New York. donom...@yahoo.com<mailto:donom...@yahoo.com>
Black Nationalism, as an ideology or philosophythroughoutthenineteenth and early twentieth centuries was characterized by militant and strident protest movements in African and Afro-American communities. Black Nationalists in their dream of realizing full potential in the society promoted strategies to achieve justice, equality and liberation against oppressive power in the hands of others in the Atlantic community. In the 1920s, Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) became the most powerful Black Nationalist organization in history, promoting the organization of an African state for blacks along with racial pride and self-help. Indeed, Garvey's philosophy influenced the career of Kwame Nkrumah, an African statesman who faced some of the century's most challenging political struggles to break colonial yoke. Nkrumah blossomed as a charming, visionary and inspiring leader who campaigned ceaselessly for African solidarity. Against the above backdrop,this paper identifies Kwame Nkrumah and Garvey philosophy borne along the tide of promoting the virtues of self-pride, self-motivation, self-sufficiency, and other progressive attributes to the black world. in addition, the paper examines the missing link between Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey, especially the latter who transitioned as an icon of universal black pride is celebrated and recreated through folk myth and the music of reggae artist like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Burning Spear that presents a Garvey who speaks from the past to the present.

Ethnic Nationalism and its Enduring Political Power
Ogungbesan, OluseyiAbiodun
Olabisi Onabanjo University. oluseyio...@yahoo.com
Defining the nation or nations in terms of ethnicity hence projecting some elements of descent from previous generations is the theme of this paper with a particular look at the impact of its enduring power. Projecting their own experience on to the rest of the world, Nigerians generally belittle the role of ethnic nationalism and its end using political power. After all, tribes of varying ethnic origins live in relatively “assumed and fragile” peace and calm. Within two or three generations of immigration, ethnic identities are attenuated by cultural assimilation and intermarriage; surely things cannot be so different elsewhere. Nigerians also find ethno nationalism discomforting as it goes to show that it is a product not of nature but of culture, often deliberately constructed. An ethicists scorn value systems based on narrow group identities rather than cosmopolitanism. But none of these will make ethnonationism go away. Immigrants to a place usually arrive with a willingness to fit into their new state and reshape their identities accordingly. But for those who remain behind in lands where their ancestors have lived for generations, if not centuries, political identities often take ethnic form producing competing communal claims to political power. The creation of a peaceful regional order of nation states has usually been the product of a violent process of ethnic separation has not yet occurred; politics is apt to remain ugly.
A familiar and influential narrative or twentieth-century European history argues that nationalism twice led to war in 1914 and then again in 1939. Therefore the story goes, Europeans concluded that nationalism was a danger and gradually abandoned it. In the past war decades western Europeans enmeshed themselves in web of transnational institutions, culminating in the European Union (EU). After the fall of the soviet Empire, that transnational frame work spread eastward to encompass most of the continents. Europeans entered a post national era, which was not only a good thing in itself but also a model for other regions. Nationalism, in this view, had been a tragic detour on the roads to a peaceful liberal democratic order.

Indigenous Forms of Communication Used for Family Planning Awareness in Ondo State, Nigeria.
Ajayi Busayo R.
Federal University of Technology, Akure.bu...@gmail.com<mailto:bushi...@gmail.com>
Communication is an integral part of any community or society whether traditional or modern. Every traditional community had its means of exchanging information and experiences before the modern methods of communication came into being. Some of these traditional means of communication included story-telling, songs, proverbs, religious rituals, dance and so on. Even now that a lot of people seem to be at home with watching television, listening to radio and browsing the internet, there are still many people that remain unreached by exogenous information or knowledge that could make the lives of these traditional people better or comfortable. One of these contemporary issues is family planning that is being made popular by the federal government. One argument against what used to be the norm in child bearing and child rearing is that it is not healthy for a family to raise more than they can afford. This paper seeks to know the indigenous methods used by the government in disseminating the methods of family planning in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Government involvement in Religious Pilgrimage in a Secular State: It’s Implications and Interpretations in Nigeria.
Professor Rotimi Omotoye
University of Ilorin. rotimi...@yahoo.com
There are three major religions in Nigeria. These are African traditional religion, Islam and Christianity. It is observed that before the introduction of foreign religions, adherents of African religion used to practice their religion in designated shrines in Nigeria. However, with the introduction of the two foreign religions, the issue of pilgrimage has become political and competitive in nature.
Nigeria, as a nation, is constitutionally recognized as a Secular state, where religion should be regarded as a private affair of an individual. However, for political reasons, or as a result of ignorance on the part of government officials, the nation is being governed and referred to as a multi-religious nation. The Government is involved in religious affairs, like sponsoring of people to the “Holy Land”. The exercise has become political; so as to win votes from the electorates in the country. There is injustice and total denial of the “largesse” to some religious groups in the country. After all, the adherents of African religion are tax payers and citizens of the country.
Our concern in this paper is that Nigeria is a Secular state and that the Government should not spend the resources of the nation on pilgrims going to the “Holy Land”. Such money should be used to fund education, health and provide social amenities for the citizenry. If justice and fairplay is to be maintained, government should not be involved in religious matters, especially at this time that there is religious insecurity in the nation. Religious leaders and pilgrims should be encouraged to source for money to meet their religious obligations on their own, or look for a centre in the country where they can perform their religious obligation, after all, the Lord Jesus said in John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…”In other words, you can worship God anywhere because He is omniscience.




From Oral Tradition to Documented History: Preservation and Documentation of Negro Spirituals from 1867 to Present.
Odujobi Kayode
Nigeria International School. kodu...@gmail.com<mailto:kodu...@gmail.com>
This paper explores the African influence in the New World through the retention and transmission of music. It draws attention to the channel of musical flows, highlighting the dynamism of oral tradition through spoken stories and songs, its purpose and by extension, its effects on the African-American and the generality of the people. The author argues that oral traditions transformed into music are the centripetal force in maintaining a deep sense of communal solidarity among the African Slaves. He discusses the famous Trans-Atlantic routes of the migrants to the new world, the spoken stories cum songs tradition brought by these African migrants, the role of their musical sensibility on the religion forced on them and the eventual hybridization of this musical genre called Negro Spirituals which has now become interwoven in to the collective social fabric of the American whether white or colored. The article shows many efforts in the preservation and documentation of this musical genre, how it moves beyond mere oral tradition of the African migrants to a cultural pivot and indeed, national treasure of the Americans.

The Expanding Nigerian English Lexicon: Evidences from a Nigerian Professor’s Inaugural Lecture
Kemi Olayemi
Olabisi Onabanjo University. jeremia...@yahoo.co.uk
Since the English language has become a world language having spread to so many parts of the world, it has continued to enjoy various transformations in different socio-cultural contexts within which it finds itself. One of such is the creation of new words to cater for various experiences which the second language user of English wishes to describe as he engages the language in day-to-day communication. This study aims at revealing the morphological processes in which words from both the English and the Yoruba languages become aesthetically woven to produce new strings which are closer in meaning to the original words from which they have been coined. This creation of new words or expressions no doubt helps the enrichment of the English lexicon and also provides the second language user the ease of communication in the language. The result is the emergence of “an English” that is our own. However, codifying the resulting linguistic forms may pose great challenge to scholars.
Qualitative Administration in Nigerian Universities
Adenekan, Tolulope Elizabeth
Lead City University. lizzya...@yahoo.com<mailto:lizzya...@yahoo.com>, lizzya...@gmail.com
Access to education in each country had always portended an inextricable linkage with growth and development. Social infrastructures and services, including education should be properly administered to bring about the desired results. This study is concerned with quality of administrative management in Nigerian universities. Adopting the historical, critical and analytic research methods, this paper takes a backward glance on the quality of administration and leadership style in the Nigerian universities and revealed that the products of Nigeria’s early universities laid down foundations of excellence and won laurels in various fields at home and abroad, they were offered employment by multinational companies and corporate bodies. However, during and after the military rule the political landscape of Nigerian changed for the worse. Everything was affected including the economy and the educational system.
Standards began to fall in all the tiers of education and our university graduates suddenly became unemployable and they were treated as such both internally and globally. This paper examines the myriads of problems militating against the effective management of Nigerian university education system. These include funding of higher education, poor infrastructure, erosion of university autonomy, job market assessment of graduates, volatile and militant students’ unionism, secret cults, examination malpractices and effect of strikes on teaching and learning in the universities. It prescribes some innovative survival strategies for moving forward, thereby synergizing best administrative style in the top world class universities.
To this end, it is important to state that a university is a universal institution be it private, State, or Federal and the administrative and leadership style in all universities should be universal; it is clear that there is an urgent need to revitalize higher education in Nigeria through policies and reforms, programmes, pedagogy and teaching tools, training of teachers as well as research in education.



Linguistic and Cultural Identity Endangerment: Investigation of Indigenous-Language-English Nigerian Bilinguals’ Knowledge of Implications of their Linguistic Practices
Samson Olusola Olatunji
Lead City University. sams...@gmail.com,olatunj...@lcu.edu.ng
A people’s language is both an integral part of their culture and a medium of propagation of the culture among contemporaries as well as transmitting it to coming generations. The perpetuation or termination of the people’s cultural distinctiveness thus depends largely on the continued use of their indigenous language in both personal and public domains. The fact that Nigerian indigenous languages are fast being less used, even for informal purposes, by an ever-increasing population of Nigerians has been decried by many authors. This survey was carried out among Nigerian-language-English bilinguals to compare the extent of their use of the English Language with that of their indigenous languages and also find out if they are conscious of subjecting their indigenous languages as well as their cultural identities to avoidable extinction.





Nigeria, Afro-centrism and Conflict Resolution:Five Decades after- How far, How well?

Olumuyiwa Babatunde Amao and Ufo, Okeke- Uzodike

University of KwaZulu-Natal. Talk2...@yahoo.com<mailto:Talk2...@yahoo.com>
This paper examines the dominant conceptual and theoretical approaches towards understandings Nigeria’s conflict resolution mechanism in Africa. Its main argument is premised on the place of Nigeria’s Afro-centric foreign policy in its interventionist roles in conflicts that have occurred within the West African sub-region and the continent. The paper goes further to reviewing the essential ingredients embedded in Nigeria’s foreign policy articulation, including the probable factors accountable for the much publicized shift to citizen diplomacy. The paper reveals that what is presently at play is a continuation of Nigeria’s traditional afro-centric posture and recommends a re-direction of this approach to a foreign policy focus that can effectively cater for the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry, particularly given the precarious economic circumstances facing the Nigerian state.
Keywords: Afro-centrism; Citizen Diplomacy; Conflict Resolution; Foreign Policy; and Nigeria.



Ethnicity as a Variant of Racism:

A Case of the Igede of Central Nigeria

Victor Iyanya (PhD)

Benue State University. viiy...@gmail.com

Even though racism has always been with man, it began to assume a new dimension following the wide approbation of the ‘Darwinian Theory of Evolution’. No sooner had the theory been taken in than it began to diversify into ‘Social Darwinism’ as a way of rationalizing the belief in certain quarters, that the Caucasoid race is superior to all others. Consequently, while this theory enjoyed great appeal in the West, it did not sink well among the people of African origin who have always been the main victims of racism. However, in spite of suffering horrendously from racism, Africans remains the most highly fragmented along ethnic lines. Nigeria represents a perfect example of the nature of ethnic divisions that abound throughout Africa. Apart from the three dominant ethnic groups (Igbo Hausa and Yoruba) that exist in the country, there are over two hundred and fifty relatively smaller ethnic and sub-ethnic groups. Agitations for a better deal by minority ethnic groups are very common in virtually all parts of the Nigeria. It is however ironical that some of the loudest critics of racism have been found to be among the worst perpetrators of ethnic-based discriminations. One however wonders whether such perpetrators are unable to draw a correlation between the ills associated with racism, and those associated with ethnicity; or whether they willfully turn a blind eye in circumstances whereby they are not the victims. This paper takes a hard and sincere look at the above contradiction, by adopting the case of the Igede which is one of the minority ethnic groups in central Nigeria as a case study.

Hegemony or Survival: South Africa’s regional pursuit of soft power and the challenges of xenophobia
Olusola Ogunnubi and Oluwaseun Tella
University of KwaZulu-Natal ,Ogun...@ukzn.ac.za<mailto:Ogun...@ukzn.ac.za>,Te...@ukzn.ac.za<mailto:Te...@ukzn.ac.za>
The realization of the moral imperative to redeem South Africa’s regional position and international image which had significantly plummeted during the Apartheid era provided the platform for South Africa to exhibit its soft power (power of attraction) resources in the pursuit of its national interests in Africa and at the global arena. In this light, Soft power resources rather than the traditional hard power currencies (economic and military capabilities) have been significant in South Africa’s successful attempt to elevate its capacity and by implication its international profile in its pursuit of regional hegemony. The sources of South Africa’s soft power among others includethe influence of its charismatic leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Thambo Mbeki; peacemaking and peace keeping efforts in Africa; its progressive constitution(which emphasizes democracy and human rights) and the hosting of major international events.
While soft power serves as a pull-factor which enhances the influence of South Africa in promoting its interests in African countries, it also attracts the citizens of other African countries who are either in search for greener pastures or enrolment into South African educational institutions. However, there has been an endless plethora of reports and cases of South African intolerance and antagonism to foreigners from other African countries.
Therefore, the study interrogates South Africa’s hegemonic posture in Africa, the sources of its soft power and the contradictions espoused by its xenophobic and afrophobic culture. The study concludes that xenophobia in South Africa is a push factor characterized by an inherent tendency to repel foreigners and consequently erode the efficacy of South Africa’s soft power currencies in Africa.

Keywords: Xenophobia, Soft power, Hegemony



Analysis Of Non-Violent And Violent Strategies in Combating Patriarchal and Domestic Violence in Francophone African Fictions of Fassinou’s Modukpè Ou Le Rêve Brisé And Calixthe Beyala C’est Le Soleil Qui M’a Brulee.
Onojobi, Temidayo (Ph.D)
Olabisi Onabanjo University.edith­a...@yahoo.com<mailto:Universit...@yahoo.com>
Existing studies in literary scholarship have highlighted various forms of violence against women as patriarchal structures in Francophone African creative writings. However, not many of them have explored the possible strategies out of the patriarchal strictures. This article, therefore, focuses on various forms of strategies capable of thwarting male hegemony in domestic setting. The study departs from the areas many critics of Feminist Franco-African literature have too frequently visited; plot, thematic concerns, characterisation and style among others, instead it chooses to explore the various forms of violence experienced by feminine fictional characters in Francophone Narratives and the different ways in which the female fictional victims struggle to resist their deplorable conditions leading to their liberation. The paper employs a combination of Non-violent and Violent strategies as its theoretical framework and adopts the French “explication de texte” as its methodology. Two (2) Francophone African narratives are investigated. They are Calixthe Beyala’s C’est le soleil qui m’a brûlée and Adelaïde Fassinou’s Modukpè ou le rêve brisé. The scope of the work covers both the non-violent and the violent method of combating patriarchy. Adelaïde Fassinou believes in the non-violent approach while Calixthe Beyala subscribes to violent responses. Adelaide proffers remarrying and economic empowerment as her liberation strategies. She depicts Modukpè who is economically empowered to challenge the status quo. Modukpè later divorces Phillipe due to his bestial acts and remarries Freddy, her ideal loving husband. Death and killing are also lent credence to as possible escape from men’s violence by Beyala. She portrays Ateba who stabs Molière, her molester, to death while Irène another victim of male dewomanisation bows to death in order to free herself from patriarchal oppression. Economic and socio-cultural non-violent approaches are effective than violent ones in thwarting patriarchal strictures in female Francophone African fictions. These non-violent approaches, if applied to real-life situations in Africa are capable of providing a lasting solution to patriarchal violence against women.

Welfare Associations and Gender Identity Transformation in Post Colonial Nigeria: A Study of Igbo Women in Makurdi Town.
Okoye Onyinye
Benue State University Makurdi. onyiny...@gmail.com<mailto:onyiny...@gmail.com>
There is little or no recognition of women's associations and the roles they play in Identity Transformation. This is alarming and disturbing. In migrating, women anchor on ethnic associations in which they have common grounds. The importance of these association's are ernomous and thus we table for critical and objective observation and analysis that our social system is grossly unfair, not appreciating the roles the welfare associations play in the lives of women. We thus seek to examine how Igbo women in migrating with their families are able to maintain cultural affinities, assessing the activities they are involved in and how these activities within the association impact their lives socially, economically, culturally and politically. Framing this in the context of Gender Identity and Transformation in Post Colonial Nigeria we would attempt to shed light on the important role of women towards societal development and the vital role welfare association's play towards it.



VOTES AND VIOLENCE: AN EVALUATION OF ETHNIC POLITICS IN NIGERIA
AFOLABI, Olugbemiga Samuel Ph.D
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.afolab...@yahoo.ca<mailto:afolabio...@yahoo.ca>. osaf...@oauife.edu.ng<mailto:osaf...@oauife.edu.ng>
Politics in Nigeria have always tended to follow ethnic lines. While votes are the bedrock of elections and democratic rule, they have always been manipulated thereby curtailing individual freedom of choice and expression. This often results in violence. This paper therefore examines the interplay between votes, electoral contest and violence in Nigeria. Two critical variables, votes and violence, are important in the analysis of violence in the context of ethnic politics and rivalries in Nigeria. Thus, first, the issue of votes and electoral contest was discussed and later, the paper examined state and non-state actors in the electoral process and in the incidence of violence. This was within the context of ethnic politics. To ground the research work in reality, the paper used primary data sourced from questionnaire and discovered that violence arising from electoral contest are not directly as a result of ethnic politics only but is related to group and elite contestation for power and the spoils of office.

Ethnic Consciousness and Artistic Creativity – Phoenix Savage and Albert La Verge as the Basis
Michael Olusegun FAJUYIGBE
Obafemi Awolowo University.m...@gmail.com<mailto:fola...@yahoo.com>
Art is a human phenomenon; and an expression of ideals and values, of desires, emotions and activities that are shared by an individual or a people. The paper in this light, discusses the ethno-patriotic spirit and artistic creativity of Phonix Savage and Albert LaVerge - two Diaspora Fulbright scholars who served at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 2010/11 and 2011/12 sessions respectively. The paper used works, projects and produced by the artists to discuss the role of ethnicity, place and culture in artistic creativity. The study revealed that Phoenix’s artistic creativity is inspired by Yoruba religious views; hence, she adapted this into her art forms to deepen her relationship to the Yoruba culture. Albert however is driven by ethnic consciousness – the need to connect with cultural roots. The paper concluded that contemporary artists should look to Africa and reflect that influence in their works with the intent of promoting ethnic identity and consciousness.
Key Words: Ethnic Consciousness, Identity, Artistic Creativity, Symbolism Yoruba,
A Literary Reading of Achebe’s There Was A Country: A Personal Story Of Biafra
Ogunduyile Abimbola
Federal University of Technology Akure, demi...@gmail.com<mailto:demi...@gmail.com>
The memoir There was a country: A personal story of Biafra by Chinua Achebe talks about the life of the author in his youth, and focuses mainly is an account of the civil war in Nigeria which spanned from 1966 to 1970 and claimed the lives of over three million Igbos. It narrates the events that preceded and happened during the war; the attitude of other ethnic groups towards the Igbo tribe and how it culminated into full-scale hostility and violence towards the Igbo people.
The paper examines the themes of ethnicity, ethnic identity and ethnic conflict and how these themes have reflected the issues which gave rise to the civil war as narrated in Achebe’s memoir. Ethnic conflict, for instance, has been a focus of concern to many scholars and leaders as it has slowed the progress of many societies which had great promises of rapid development. This is the story of Nigeria. The current paper contributes to the never-ending debate about the impact of ethnicity in the overall development in African states.
KEY WORDS: ethnicity, ethnic identity, ethnic conflict, civil war

Eurocentrism, ‘African Art’ And The ‘Egypt’ Factor
Michael Olusegun FAJUYIGBE Ph.D
ObafemiAwolowo University. michofa...@gmail.com
Early studies on ‘African Art’ show a deliberate exclusion of Egyptian art (and those of the Maghreb) by European art historians because of evidences of Euro-Asiatic and Islamic ideals. ‘Egypt’ is a hybrid of civilizations, the melting pot of nations; nevertheless, ancient Egyptian art share similar values with those of sub-Saharan Africa, both geographically and culturally. Thus, the paper examines the connection between the ancient ‘Egyptian Art’ and the rest of the ancient ‘African Arts’, emphasising the cultural cum artistic similarities. Based on ethnographical / ethnological evidencesand relevant literature, the paper reveals that the recognizable belief system(such as reincarnation, polytheism, divine kingship, among others);and art traditions (including form, material and purpose)are mutual toboth ancient Egyptians, the Nubians of north-eastern Sudan and other races in the continent. The paper concludes that the role of race and racial constructs in the study of African communities and values can be better appreciated when the people’s artistic creativity are considered side-by-side other evidences. Art is the signature of ancient civilisations; hence, any evidence can be corroborated or refuted accordingly. Also, the exclusion of ‘white’ from ‘black’ or ‘black’ from ‘white’ is anethnicconceptaimed at promoting Eurocentric ideals as well as the continual domination Africans and Africans in Diaspora by the western powers.
Key words: Egypt, African art,Race, Eurocentrism, European writers


Race and Place as Ethnic Identity in Toyin Falola’s Memoir
Doyin Aguoru Ph.D
University of Ibadan. doyina...@gmail.com
Autobiographical literature, an ancient literary and historical form, and its criticism, has consistently generated intellectual interest and polemically constructed discourses. The uniqueness of the form is principally in the narration of ‘the self’ and, in some cases, its engaging ‘the self’ as a vehicle for narrating the lives and times of peoples. Toyin Falola’s, A Mouth Sweeter than Salt: an African Memoir belongs to the class of autobiographical writings described as memoirs which are often interchangeably referred to as autobiography. This type belongs to the category of autobiographical writings that narrates the lives of people through the eye of the autobiographer.
Falola’s A Mouth Sweeter than Salt is a tale of Ibadan and its peoples. This study examines the character portraitures and the setting in Falola’s memoir, aligning these two critical elements of literary criticism with race (the Yoruba people of Ibadan) and place ( Ibadan town) as indicators of identity: individual and ethnic. Authored by a renowned Ibadan historiographer who engages the biographical approach to history and literary autobiographical narrative techniques, one unmistakably encounters the Ibadan identity and experiences authorial flavours of the narrator who simultaneously is the protagonist and the author.

Festival Performances in Africa and the Relevance of Richard Schechner’s Performance Theoretic
Anya Egwu
Covenant Universit...@yahoo.co.uk<mailto:ikec...@yahoo.co.uk>
Attempts have been made to authenticate the manifestations of the African festival performance. While scholars disposed to the post-colonial theoretic and the so-called relativist critics, for example, consider all manifestations – the presentational and the representational – of the festival performance as drama, their counterparts in the evolutionist pole do not consider the performances as drama, but, at best, as theatre or drama in the matrix. African festival performances may not be truthfully and clearly appreciated for what they are if clear distinction is not made between the contending terms of performance, drama, and theatre. Relying, therefore, on the provision of performance theory as envisioned by Richard Schechner, this paper attempts to draw clear distinctions between performance, theatre, and drama and shelve the manifestations of the African festival performance accordingly in them. The aim is towards a balanced appreciation of the true nature and manifestations of the festival performance in Africa. The paper argues that while many of the performances clearly boast of the elements of drama and can be so labelled, others, particularly the presentational, are mere spectacles or behaviours that can come within the ambit of performance.

The Acceptability of Frog (Ambystoma Maculatum) as an Edible Meat in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Olarewaju C.A. And Olurankinse C.A. cecilia...@yahoo.co.uk<mailto:cecilia...@yahoo.co.uk>
The study was carried out to determine the acceptability of frog (ambystomamaculatum) as an edible meat in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Frogs and fishes are good sources of protein, calcium and iron. They can be consumed to help in meeting up with the recommended dietary intake or allowances of these nutrients and thereby prevent malnutrition. One hundred respondents were randomly selected from two major markets (Igele and Sabo) in the town. Majority of indigenes and settlers patronize the Igele and Sabo market respectively. Structured questionnaire, oral interview and field survey were to collect data for the study. A four point Likert rating scale was used to analyze data collected. Mean of responses showed that frog meat was found throughout the year (2.52) but cheaper during the rainy season. Ondo indigenes did not eat frog meat (2.61). Most (45%) of those who bought and sold frogs were from Sabo market. Only low income earners purchase frog meat (2.53). Many did not agree that frog meat could be used to eradicate malnutrition.73.3% insisted that they will not consume them. 47.5% of those who consumed frog meat cooked it by stewing method. It was recommended that workshops, seminars and health talks be organized to enlighten people in the area on the nutritional value of frog.

Chinua Achebe’s There Was A Country: A Personal Account of Biafra and the Politics of Tribal Spokesmanship
Banire Abiodun
University of Ibadan. saba...@yahoo.com
The search for truthful accounts of events that precipitated the Nigerian Civil War has remained elusive in literary corpus, even in the autobiographical sub-genre which prides itself on factuality and faithfulness to objective depiction of events. Over four decades after the cessation of hostilities between Nigerian Federal Forces and the secessionist Forces of Biafra, the plethora of autobiographical works on the subject remains heavily compromised with the burden of tribal prejudices and sentiments, taking us farther away from unraveling the true causes (remote and immediate) and circumstances of the war that appears to have wrecked indelible scars on the psyche of the Nigerian state. Dwelling on Chinua Achebe’s There Was A Country: A Personal Account of Biafra which is one of the most recent autobiographical works in the Nigerian civil war continuum, this paper examines the strategies adopted by such writers to pursue tribalistic agendas. It argues that Achebe, in this work, assumes the role of a tribal spokesman bent on building up the Igbo as a master race, absolving it of any blame in the events that culminated in the war, and reducing other (major) tribes of Nigeria as les-sophisticated and incurably envious of the Igbo tribe. Through comparison of Achebe’s civil war memoir with historical accounts (such as newspaper articles, press releases, letters, and other memoirs on the subject) and examination of the strategies he uses to mythicize the Igbo race (as infallible, and as victim of envy and hate), disparage other tribes, trump up claims of genocide, and downplay the totalitarian and repressive regime operated in Biafra’s brief existence to pursue his Igbocentric leanings, this paper concludes that Achebe’s civil war memoir, rather than expand factual knowledge on the tragic events of the war, is a further distortion of history to achieve tribalistic intents, as evident from the avalanche of criticisms that trail the “facts” presented in the book






Embodied Movements in the Circum-Carribbean Diaspora: Negotiating the Cultural Politics of Dance in the Construction of National Peoplehood
Gee. A. Yawson M.S.
Florida International University. gya...@gmail.com<mailto:gya...@gmail.com>
Dance as an aesthetic is often associated with the social domain of society, yet it evokes connections to various political, economic, and religious aspects of communities in varying ways. The dancing body does not only communicate nonverbal expressions via movement and music, it can articulate the politics of place in spaces where certain bodies are ostracized, it can conjure articulations of resistance within historically “Othered” and marginalized religious rituals, and it can narrate the stratified economics within groups through its aesthetic displays. Across the African continent and in predominant areas of the Black Atlantic Diaspora, dance has played and continues to play an essential role in sociopolitical lives of many communities. However, the development and progressive acceptance of the dances of these communities often depend on relevant historical conditions, class and racial power dynamics and the pertinent cultural values associated with the dance. In the following essay I engage in an what Daniel (2011) terms as the “afrogenic” analysis of African-influenced dance genres of particular “Circum-Caribbean” culture sphere”, which includes some Caribbean islands and related mainland territories as well Colombia, Venezuela and northeastern Brazil. My focus is on particular dances categorized as social and popular dances, sacred dances, fighting/combat dances, concert and theatrical performance and tourist performance. In the analysis of these dances, I forefront the influences of African dance practices evidenced in particular movements, associations with particular classes/groups, and gendered performativity as crucial factors in the sociopolitical inclusion or exclusion of these dances in the construction of what is deemed as part of national culture.






Polygyny And The Womanist Discourse In Under The Brown Rusted Roofs And The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives
Igwe O.C,
University of Ilorin. onye...@yahoo.com
Some African feminist critics like Nnaemeka (1994) and Esonwanne (1997) justify polygyny as beneficial to the African woman as it is believed to engender sisterhood among them. The purpose of this paper has been to examine the veracity of this claim and establish if sisterhood develops among women in polygynous homes. Ogunyemi’s (1983) African feminist theory of womanism was used to examine two literary texts on this subject, namely, Adelakun’s Under the Brown Rusted Roofs (2008) and Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (2010) to establish the claims that polygyny helps the African woman to attain a better living experience. Findings in this study indicate that the co-wives in both novels engaged in constant quarrelling, fights and conspiracies to undo one another. This paper concludes that sisterhood does not develop among co-wives in a polygynous home.

Beyond Apartheid: A Study of Recent South African Drama
Afolayan Bosede F. (PhD)
University of Lagos.afol...@yahoo.com
When apartheid held sway in South Africa, its literature tended to be solely directed against the ignoble and reprehensible acts of white supremacists. Literature at this time could not help but be an instrument of social reordering and social engineering. Whether in poetry, prose or drama, the tendency to use art as a weapon of attack was predominant. Literature at this time could not help but be a subversive weapon. It was thus saturated with politics and it became protest literature. With the fall of apartheid and the installation of Africans Presidents (Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma), what has become the fate of South African drama? One curious dimension is to investigate the nature of South Africa drama after the abolition of apartheid. The obvious themes before now have been the issue of pass laws, racial discrimination and the harsh realities in which black South Africans live as seen in the
Rhythm of Violence by Lewis Nkosi and Athol Fugard’s
Sizwe Banzi. Has the drama embraced new themes? If, it has, what are these new themes? We are particularly interested in exploring the gains of freedom on the literature of South Africa. Does the drama reflect the disillusionment of the people? These are the questions which this paper seeks to answer against the backdrop of the relationship between art and society.

Ethnic Neuroses and Rituals of Violence in Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April
Oladipupo Oluremi Olalekan
Ajayi Crowther University. olathe...@yahoo.com
The paper investigates the historical, psychological and political undercurrents that culminate in the pogrom that occurred in Rwanda in 1994.
The chequered history and volatile socio-political conditions of the postcolonial African states that have obtained flag independence from their colonisers can be traced to the impact of the colonisation of memory(memory) and temporal spaces, a deleterious enterprise that aggravate primordial tension and suspicion among various ethnic groups , although repressed by the hegemonic imperial force during colonial occupation.
The refrain of suspicion that is played up the contending forces degenerates into bitter rivalry which snowballs into full-scale violence and neurotic genocide.
Given the vivid cinematic interpretation of the Rwandan Civil War in the two films, the paper will keep in focus the rituals of murder performed by Hutus and Tutsis as a mark of initiation into communal solidarity ‘cult’.
Predicated on the praxis of postcolonial and psychoanalytic theories of literary interpretation and criticism, the transposition of core literary theories into the domain of the mass media will enhance the hermeneutic value of the content as it relates to the exposition of the challenges that confront black Africa, and at the same time proffering solutions to these problems from the perspective of a Pan –Africanist ideologue.



Selected Readings in the History of Science and British Colonial West Africa."
Daniel Jean-Jacques
University of Texas. daniel.je...@hotmail.com
When Europeans arrived in West Africa, they encountered a region thoroughly isolated from their own. The Europeans brought with them to this region notions regarding the acquisition and validity of knowledge that were quite distinct from local epistemological frameworks. With the onset of large-scale colonial occupation during the late nineteenth century, West Africa's diverse peoples faced a profound challenge to their previously established knowledge systems. What was the nature of the discourse between Western and West African thought, and what did this discourse yield in its wake? It is the ambition of this work to address these questions through an examination of the historiography of West African science and its interaction with Western conceptions of scientific inquiry. Central to this examination are three questions. First, what is the meaning of the term "science," and how did understandings of this concept differ between West African indigenes and the newcomers they encountered? Second, following the moment of contact, how did local and foreign conceptions of the "scientific" interact. What was the result of this interaction? Finally, as West Africa struggles with issues of "modernity" and development, what options are available to the peoples of the region in moving forward? Given the centrality of education and economic development to the future prospects of West Africa, this is a topic well worth consideration. Further, this historiographical enterprise hopes to serve as a starting point for a more exhaustive research effort.


Metaphors of Nation and War in Achebe’s There was a Country
Onwu Inya
Federal University of Technology Akure. inya...@yahoo.com<mailto:inya...@yahoo.com>

Achebe’s There was a country- A Personal History of Biafra caused quite a stir in the Nigerian polity when it was published in 2012. On the one hand, it narrates the story of Achebe and on the other hand, it details on the larger narrative of the Nigerian Nation-state from amalgamation, through the colonial era, the Independence, the post-independence, the civil war and recent happenings. The book reflects on the relationship between the Igbo ethnic group and the rest of the Nigerian nation-state. Furthermore, a large part of the memoir, specifically Parts 2 and 3, deals with the issue of the Nigerian-Biafran war. As such, the issues of race, nation and war are pivotal in the book and form the basis of the current paper.
The paper examines metaphors of race and war in Achebe’s memoir. The understanding of metaphor espoused here is based on postulations within Conceptual Metaphor theory, and the basic claim of this theory is that metaphor is understanding one concept, experience in the light of another. Therefore, the paper investigates how Achebe construes the issues of race/ethnicity, nation and war, that is, the source domains he uses to conceptualise these target domains. One interesting finding, from a preliminary reading of the text, is the metaphor THE IGBO RACE IS THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE (NIGERIAN) FAMILY. Details of this and other metaphors are fully explicated in the paper. The paper concludes by examining the implication of metaphor for the understanding/interpretation of historical narratives.


Sporting Diaspora: Nigerian Boxers in Liverpool, 1940-1970“



Michael Gennaro



University of Florida. mikege...@ufl.edu


This paper will analyze the creation of a Nigerian sporting diaspora in Liverpool, England,by focusing on migration of boxers, trainers, and coaches from the 1940s to the 1970s. During this time, Liverpool, a British port city with a long tradition of racial interaction, began recruiting a large African population by bringing together men and women from across the empire to work, especially after WWII. During this time more than 50 boxing sporting professionals migrated to England in search of money, training, skills, fame, and experience that would enable them to succeed inside and outside the ring, both in Liverpool and back home in Nigeria. The paper will also look at the construction of a Nigerian-Liverpool identity, the trials associated with“belonging” in England to the Nigerian and Liverpudlian communities, and the process of creating and maintaining ties through their work and performances as boxers. Their interaction with not only Britons, but other people from the empire, played an important role in the formation, diffusion, and conception of ‘Nigerian’ in the face of large cultural exchange and interaction in England. Yet, some boxers, like world championHogan Bassey, called Liverpool their adopted homes;Bassey felt as a native born Liverpudlian in addition to being a Nigerian.This paper will analyze the creation of new Diasporas from a different angle, as well as the mobility and migration of Nigerians across the Empire, and different conceptions of home.


Life imitating Art- Impact of Nollywood on culture in Africa and the Diaspora
Oluwatoyin A. Asojo PhD Baylor College of Medicine Houston Texas (As...@bcm.edu<mailto:As...@bcm.edu>),Oluwatosin A. Asojo PE Fluor Corporation Texas (Tas...@gmail.com<mailto:Tas...@gmail.com>),Abimbola O. Asojo AIA PhD College of Design University of Minnesota (aas...@unm.edu<mailto:aas...@unm.edu>),Theresa T. Asojo PhD Joseph Bablola University.

Nollywood, Nigeria’s film machinery produces movies that deal with themes and issues that resonate with Africans globally. There seems to be an insatiable appetite among Africans both on the continent and in the diaspora for these movies. Production quality is at the discretion of the filmmakers and controversial topics are embraced in an effort to capture a large audience in a highly saturated and competitive market. While it is generally accepted that Nollywood movies are products of the Nigeria cultures of the filmmakers, we will focus on the influence of these movies on culture. Thus, we will present how Nollywood movies affect and change popular as well as fringe culture on the continent and in the diaspora. We will illustrate how Nollywood movies are shaping joyous occasions such as naming ceremonies and marriages and how contemporary ceremonies have evolved to embrace Nollywood based rituals and practices. Additionally, the themes of religion, superstition and Nollywood will be scrutinized. Issues we will analyze include perceptions of curses and witchcraft, and how Nollywood movies may be unwittingly contributing to serious tragedies such as a resurgence of human ritual sacrifices and murder of suspected witches. We will also examine how Nollywood movies impact how Africans perceive themselves and others.

Ethnicity and a Sociolinguistic Discourse of Ojukwu’s Post Civil War Speech

Akano M. K

ThePolytechnic, Ibadan. akanomat...@yahoo.com
Ethnicity is one of the socio-political problems confronting Nigeria and this is even reflected in the socio-human communication through how language is used. That language is human and a projection of thought cannot be disputed. The consideration for the use and the context establishes the significance of sociolinguistic study. As a geo-linguistic entity, Nigeria has experienced series of internal strives such as; civil war, ethnic militancy and terrorism. This paper sets to do the sociolinguistic discourse of Ojukwu’s speech after the fratricidal civil war. Our theoretical framework is Dell Hyme’s ethnography of communication. This theory is adopted because it contains variables that are necessary for speech analysis in relation to the society. From the analysis ,it is our observation that Ojukwu still nurses hopes for the existence of the Republic of Biafra. By extension, we situate the contemporary socio-political problems in Nigeria to the aftermath of the war. This opinion is given because the remote and the immediate causes of the war as identified in Ojukwu’s speech have not been addressed adequately. This paper, therefore, recommends that the government should demonstrate strong political will to tackle the socio-political problems confronting the nation
Keywords: sociolinguistic, ethnography or communication, civil war speech, Ethnicity and Biafra.






Migration, Eroded Cultures And Intergenerational Dialectics In Aminata Sow Fall’s Novels
Eunice E.Omonzejie Ambrose Alli University eunic...@yahoo.co.uk
Through the various periods of Africa civilisation, colonisation and migrations have caused the fragmentation of African traditional cultural values, provoked by the harsh circumstances of these encounters. This is manifested in the distortions and outright abandonment of behavioural and dress norms, languages, religious beliefs and socio-cultural practices. Evident in Aminata Sow Fall’s prose narratives, is her explicit concern with the cultural dislocations and their far-reaching consequences in human terms. In her palpable narrative attempts to stem the tide of the cultural erosion in succeeding post-colonial generations, the writer advocates a re-evaluation of mentalities in the face of transnational displacements and cultural disruptions. Espousing mainly the postcolonial approach, Afrocentrism and histories of migration, our study will focus on two novels of the author: L’Appel des arènes and Douceurs du bercail. We will examine the Afrocentric literary strategies adopted by the author in the engagement of discourses on these dislocations.
Keywords: Diaspora, Migration, Afrocentrism, cultural dislocation, colonization, intergenerational dialectics, prose narratives, Aminata Sow Fall

The Nexus between Ethnic and Religious Conflicts in Transitional Democratic Society
Animashaun Rofiah, Olateju
University of Ibadan. rofiatan...@yahoo.com
Nigeria is an amalgam of rival ethnic groups pitched against each other in a contest for power and resources that have reflected in the political processes, sometimes threatening the corporate existence of the country. Scholars have tried to develop a theoretical approach to ethnic and religious conflict for a long time. Some, like Donald Horowitz, Ted Gurr, Donald Rothschild and Edward Azar, agree that the ethnic conflicts experienced today-- especially in Africa -- are deep rooted<http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/Characteristics-IC>. These conflicts over race, religion, language and identity have become so complex<http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/complexity> that they are difficult to resolve or manage. Ethnicity has a strong influence on one's status<http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/social-status> in a community. Ethnic and religious conflicts are therefore often caused by an attempt to secure more power<http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/Power> or access more resources, as well as fight over spiritual beliefs. The opinion of this study is that conflict in Africa is synonymous with inequality<http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/power-inequities>. Wherever such inequality manifests among groups, conflict is inevitable. Hence the question, how can we effectively manage ethnic and religious conflict in Africa to avoid further human losses? Is there a blueprint for conflic management.
Keywords: Ethnic, Religious conflicts,Transnational and Democratic society

Museums: Memory and Creativity for Social Change
Nelson O. Fashina, Ph.D
Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan
It appears that recent developments in global cultural renaissance have led to the postmodernization of erected values especially by the subaltern enclaves of the world. The changes in definitions of culture and of religion as functions in society have not succeeded to resist the mega influence of a force - that is what Toyin Falola has erected as the “The Power of African Cultures”. This paper therefore hopes to unravel the process by which our museums may be engaged as inextricable liminal and transcendent societies that must co-exist with the present like a totem of memory, history and power wherein the past, the present and the future must coalesce to determine the levels of kinesis and acceleration - the linear, reversible and onto-pedal – of our African societies. In our museums and the book forests of our mega libraries lie the powers of African Arts and imagination, as the physicalized totems of our history, memory, science, technology and epistemology. It therefore becomes fortuitous to recline our creative powers and culture galleries against slippery walls of irrational economic and religious pursuits. Rather, our museums are valid sites desirable for cultural transformations and innovations in science, technology and humanistic knowledge base. Our museums are cultural boundaries of knowledge which must engage, compare and compete with and be used as platform for historical bridges and discoveries of culture and historical overlaps in today’s near collage of abysmal and chaotic disputations on land, sea and air boundaries. The stylistic aesthetics of Owo indigenous traditional songs and drumming guilds requires close research study beyond the purview and the limits of this present paper. Our governments and museum administrators, schools, individuals, NGO’s, corporate bodies, multinationals and cultural/ethnographic and archaeological scholars in collaboration with artisans and computer program developers and virtual cyber space designers should ensure the transformation of our museums into a postmodern virtual reality.
Keywords: Museum, postmodernity, Toyin Falola, African Arts and imagination, Owo indigenous traditional songs







Home, Exile and Imagination in Toyin Falola’s and Vivel Bahl’s Scoundrel of Deferral

Azeez Akinwumi Sesan

Al- Hikmah University. azeezakin...@gmail.com

The name Africa transcends geographical location situated in a continent. It is rather an identity for the descendant of black community at home and in the diaspora. The primary engagement of this paper is to understudy the portraiture and presentation of home in “migrant literature”. The term “migrant literature" is adopted in this paper because the contemporary world order encourages voluntary transnational and intercontinental movements of humans. In the past, people of African descents are dispersed in Europe and America as a result of slavery. The new trends of politics and socio-economic happenings have accounted for the diasporic movement of people of African descents. Toyin Falola and Vivel Bahl’s Scoundrel of Deferral is used as the primary text to closely examine how home, exile and diasporic imagination and presented in “migrant literature”. The close study of the selected poems in the collection shows that despite the physical detachment of writers of “migrant literature”, they (these writers) have psychological attachment to their aboriginal home and for this reason, the theme of nostalgia is under-toned in their literary texts.

Keywords: Home; Diaspora; Africa; Migrant literature and nostalgia.

Colonising the image: The African Ape and Savagism in the work of Eugene O’Neil

Saba Saakana, ph.D.
College of Science, Technology & Applied Arts Tacarigua Trinidad & Tobago
karna...@aol.com


Eugene o'neill expresses his view of the world in the context of race and class,
and undoubtedly, his choice to write on the race question, featuring Africans,
can only be interpreted as an opportunistic attempt to benefit from the political upheavals that were traumatising the united States after the first major paneuropean war. it is this social context, which gave available space for national attention, which, one conjectures, motivated the mentality of an o'neill in the creation of plays like emperor Jones and The hairy Ape. plays written by Europeans and Americans with Africans in them, whether situated in Africa, the Caribbean or the united States, did not, in the main, have them as leading characters. The image
of savagism is repeatedly demonstrated by o'neill through his protagonist, Brutus' relationship to his clothes. The symbolic image of the discomfort of the African and clothes, that they are inevitably torn and tattered, reinforces the image of the assailed African character in his pristine nudity, at one with the jungle he inhabits. Thus Jones, slowly and bit by bit, removes his coat and later his spurs, throwing them away. The emperor Jones and The hairy Ape epitomise the lack of humane rapport which separates middle-class America from the meaning of racial oppression and social conflict. it dramatises the oppositionality of o’neill’s gravitation towards fame and fortune to African American affirmation of humanity. it constructs a fantasy world of a set of behaviours assigned to the African American Brutus Jones in which he is confirmed by o’neill in his representation as savage and incapable of assimilating Western civilisation (to what good is morally questionable).


Against God and Man: Critisizing the Profanity of St Janet’s Music and Dance
OLALUSI, Kehinde Adedamola
Department of the Performing Arts, University of Ilorin kehinde...@yahoo.com<mailto:kehinde...@yahoo.com>
The menace of vulgar lyrical composition in Nigeria today has put the nation in a musical quagmire. The embrace of western idiosyncrasies in some aspects of our endeavour, particularly entertainment has deepened the corruption level in Nigeria. Hence many Nigerian artists are gradually being creatively negative in their approaches to composition of their songs. It is however unfortunate that some gospel tunes are now being changed to lewd lyrics to suit social purposes. As a result, the creative compositions of music ministers across the country are adopted to suit the musician and her selected fans while demeaning the spiritual edification purposes it serves. Owing to the above, this paper through a review and analysis of selected albums viz-a-viz relevant scholarly opinions, criticizes and question’s the height of profanity in Saint Janet’s (Omotoyosi Kayode Iyun) music and dance. Although there are negative factors responsible for this musical decadence, this paper unequivocally and irrevocably believe that money is a motivation that has beclouded the moral and spiritual justification of the music artist in question. This paper therefore concludes by highlighting a few measures that can assist in ameliorating the present conditions of lyrical compositions in Nigerian music.
The menace of vulgar lyrical composition in Nigeria today has put the nation in a musical quagmire. The embrace of western idiosyncrasies in some aspects of our endeavour, particularly entertainment has deepened the corruption level in Nigeria. Hence many Nigerian artists are gradually being creatively negative in their approaches to composition of their songs. It is however unfortunate that some gospel tunes are now being changed to lewd lyrics to suit social purposes. As a result, the creative compositions of music ministers across the country are adopted to suit the musician and her selected fans while demeaning the spiritual edification purposes it serves. Owing to the above, this paper through a review and analysis of selected albums viz-a-viz relevant scholarly opinions, criticizes and question’s the height of profanity in Saint Janet’s (Omotoyosi Kayode Iyun) music and dance. Although there are negative factors responsible for this musical decadence, this paper unequivocally and irrevocably believe that money is a motivation that has beclouded the moral and spiritual justification of the music artist in question. This paper therefore concludes by highlighting a few measures that can assist in ameliorating the present conditions of lyrical compositions in Nigerian music.


An Identity Crisis: the Case of Skin Bleaching in the Jamaican Context
Sandra McCalla
The University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica.
onera...@yahoo.com<mailto:onera...@yahoo.com>


Some Jamaicans are involved in the harmful practice of skin bleaching to achieve the effect of ‘browning’, a term used to describe Jamaican blacks with light complexion. It has been argued that, “Colonial domination and the racialized beauty empire has meant that whiteness functions as spectacle and desire in capitalist production as well as being the central organizing core of European imperial conquest of non-white peoples and cultures.”[1] We would like to argue that Jamaicans who choice to bleach their skin are operating based on this racialized conception of beauty and often times are not even conscious of this. It is the belief amongst some Jamaicans that people pay more attention to them when they are of lighter complexion. In light of the above, we will explore the notion that, as long as lighter skin is perceived as a gateway to upward mobility, its’ use may continue. We will analyze this in relation to the preconceived notion that blacks are inferior to whites so, the closer to white one gets, the more likely it is to be accepted by certain groups. Skin bleaching may be viewed by some as merely a superficial form of styling; but is there more to this phenomenon? Can skin bleaching be seen as an erasing of racial identity? It is hoped that an exploration of these questions will lead us one step closer toward the truth of skin bleaching.

Indigenous Forms and Symbols in Religious Architecture: A Case Study of the Work of Demas
Nwoko a Transformational Nigerian Architect
Dr. Abimbola O. Asojo, Ph.D.,
University of Minnesota,
aas...@umn.edu<mailto:aas...@umn.edu>

This article examines religious architecture in the Catholic Church in Nigeria after the Second Vatican Council as a manifestation of cultural heritage, indigenous forms, materials and symbols. The author will discuss how cultural heritage, traditional forms, materials, and symbols have been integrated in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican council through an analysis of the Dominican Church in Ibadan, Nigeria. The Dominican Church was designed and constructed during the 1970s by Nigerian Architect Demas Nwoko. The author will discuss how Nwoko’s architecture utilizes traditional art, culture and building techniques to evolve a nationalistic Nigerian architectural style. The Dominican facility is modelled based on the traditional West African hut, a form that reinforces the notion of community in indigenous spaces. A significant tenet of the Dominican Order is the vow of poverty. In the Dominican design, Nwoko integrated traditional elements and natural materials with contemporary forms and materials to mimic the Dominican order’s need for simplicity. Major elements from the Benin and Yoruba culture can be seen in the engravings on columns and the wall treatments in the sanctuary. The sanctuary radiates around the altar emphasizing the notion of community. A high steeple above the altar expresses the notion of spirituality. A pond around the perimeter of the church relates to the Yoruba appreciation of natural forms. The exterior façade is left unfinished to depict the notion that the Catholic Church in Nigeria as evolving and growing.









TITLES OF PAPERS AND LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

1. A Historical Analysis of Ethnic Militancy and its Effect on National Integration in Nigeria

Adedipe Adesoji and Omoregie Pat Iziengbe, University Of Ibadan.



2. Religious Conflicts and the Rise of Islamism in Nigeria.

Omolara Akinyemi, Obafemi Awolowo University.



3. Nigeria and the Road to Kigali: A Historical View from the Python’s Eyes.

Akubor Emmanuel Osewe (Ph.D), Zaria.



4. Immigration and Identity Conflicts : A Case Study of the African Immigrant in The United States.

Dr. Ohiro Oni-Eseleh, International Policy Forum, USA.



5. An African Cultural Philosophy for Global Change

. Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi, Ph.D, University of Abuja.



6 Returned Migration and Tourism Development in Nigeria: Experiences from Annual Holy Ghost Congress of the RCCG.
Adetola Omitola, Redeemer’s University.

7 Colonialism: An Impediment to the Development of Home Grown Business

Kehinde O. Ola and David O. Oke, Samuel Adegboyega University.



8 Congo, Solibo and Scratch: (Re)placing Africa in Patrick Chamoiseau’s Solibo Magnificent
Kayode Omoniyi Ogunfolabi, Obafemi Awolowo University,



9 Culture and Nigerian Identity in the Print Media

Mrs. Nwaolikpe, Onyinyechi Nancy, Babcock University



10 Cyber – Activism and Social Network Media: Appropriating the Emerging Platform to Promoting Nation-Building and Peace.

Adefolarin .A. Olamilekan , University Of Abuja.



12 Democracy and Good Governance: Imperatives For Attainment Of Millennium Development Goals.

Collins Friday Obialor, Alvan Ikoku Federal College Of Education.



13 Mental Alienation and African Identity: Exploring Historical Perspectives in Response to the Crisis of African Societies.
Eegunlusi Tayo Raymond Ezekiel , Federal University of Technology, Akure.



14 Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999- 2011)

Michael Abiodun Oni (Ph.D), Aaron Ola Ogundiwin (Ph.D) and Chibuzor Ayodele Nwaodi, Babcock University.



15 Ethnicty and The Nigerian Civil War.

Omoregie Pat Iziengbe, University Of Ibadan.



16 Colonial Urban Centers, Economic Security, Identity Bonding and the Emergence of Ethnic Associations in Nigeria: 1920 To 1960

Ihediwa Nkemjika Chimee and Alozie Bright Chiazam, University of Nigeria



17 The Role of the Social Media in sustaining the African Identity.

Babafemi Jacobs B.sc (Mass Comm.), Csc (Customer Service), GNIPR, Lead City University, Ibadan.



18 Uses and Abuses of Race/Ethnicity: U.S. Oil Companies and their Operations in Africa, 1940s-1980s.”

Dr. Kairn A. Klieman, Associate Professor of History ,University of Houston.



Questions on Magun ? – A Review of Kilani’s Thunderbolt.
Adeleke, Ogunfeyimi, Samuel Adegboyega University.


19 Memorialisation: Towards Sustainable Peace building among Diverse Ethnics in Nigeria

Ademola Olayoku, University of Ibadan.



20 Modernity, Racism and the Devaluation of Humanity.

Ademola BABALOLA, Obafemi Awolowo University.



21 Forging Home: Local and Global Intersections in the Post conflict Reintegration of Liberian Returnee Refugees.

Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, PhD, Babcock University.



22 Multicultural Conflicts and Nigeria’s Transitional Democracy (1999 - 2007).

Olufade, Adenike Olufunke (Member Apcon, Nimn, Spsp), University Of Ibadan.



23 Migrant Remittances and the Development of the Informal Sector of the Nigerian Economy.

Omonzejie, Peter I and Omonzejie, Eunice E. (Ph.D), Ambrose Alli University.



24 Oral Literature as an Identity – Marker: Studies on the People of Benue State in Central Nigeria.

Agbo Joshua, Benue State University.



25 Political Parties and Ethnicity in Nigeria: A Review.

Adeyemi, O. Oluwatobi, Obafemi Awolowo University And Oyeleye Olukayode, Centre For Organisational And Professional Ethics (Cope-Africa).



26 Race and Ethnicity: Irreducible Categories in Black People’s Timeless Encounters

Kunirum Osia, Coppin State University, USA



27 Religion & Trust as Challenges to Inter-Personal & Inter-Group Cooperation in Africa

Ohiro Oni-Eseleh , A Psychotherapist, New York



28 Resurgence of ethnic nationalism in Africa: A theoretic enquiry

Ferdinand O. Ottoh, University of Lagos.



29 Influence of Security Threats on Nigeria’s Ethno-Electoral Contest: Appraisal of Fourth Republic.

Godwin Ihemeje , Obafemi Awolowo University.



30 The Third World and Crisis of Identity.

Ogbonnaya, Ufiem Maurice, National Institute for Legislative Studies

National Assembly, Abuja



31 Beyond Intractability, Ethnicity, Nationality Identities and the Crisis of the African State.

Dr. Kehinde Olayode , Obafemi Awolowo University.



32 Memory and the Construction of National Consciousness: Memoir as Counter-Narrative in Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country

Anyaduba, Chigbo Arthur, Obafemi Awolowo University.



33 Of Modernity, Identity, Sexuality and Belongingness: Problematizing Shifting Relationships in Recent Nigerian Expatriate Fiction.

Remy Oriaku, PhD, University of Ibadan.

34 Racism, Pan-Africanism and Memory of Historical Injustices: The Autobiographical Musings of Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah.

Mr. David Ekanem Udoinwang, National Productivity Centre, Abuja.



35 The Discourse of Race nd African Identities As A Tenet For Intertextuality: A Study Of Camara Laye’s Radiance Of The King

Akinwande, Bankole Idowu, Adeyemi College of Education.



36 Xenophobia in Africa: The Reciprocity for Ineffective Cultural Management

Osedebamen David Oamen, Ph.D, Ambrose Alli University



37 Along Ethnicity or Religion, the Evolution of Good Governance in Africa?

Ijaola, Samson Oluwatope, Samuel Adegboyega University



38 The Challenges of Growth and Development: Cultural Pluralism in Kannywood

Ibrahim Daniel, University of Ibadan



39 Abiku Myth: A syndromatic recreation of racial paradigm in Nigeria’s inter-ethnic Palavers – A reading of Kole Omotosho’s Just before Dawn.

Samuel Yemi Olugbamigbe, Adeyemi College of Education.



40 The Ethno Religious Dimensions of The 2011 Election and its Roles in the Post Election Violence.
Lucky Igohosa, UGBUDIAN, French Institute for Research in Africa


41 (Re)-Emergence of Slavery in 21st Century: A Reading of Chika Unigwe’s on Black Sisters’ Street and Ifeanyi Ajaegbo’s Sarah House.

Akinyele, Akinbimpe Akintayo, University Of Ibadan.



42 If We Must Die: Representations of the Lynched Black Body in African American Literature (Single-paper submission)

Dr. Karlos K. Hill, Texas Tech University.





43 Language and Cross-Cultural Solidarity in Northern Nigeria and the Southern Parts of Lake Chad and Niger Republic.

Olubunmi Ogunseye Adebayo, Obafemi Awolowo University.



44 The Politicisation of Gender Issues in the Nigerian Polity: A Critque

Damilola Taiye Agbalajobi, Obafemi Awolowo University



45 Elechi Amadi’s Estrangement: A Product of Post-War Experiences of Women in Kenke-Village Aluu-Portharcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria.

Gloria Eme. Worugji, Ba (Uniport), Mpa, Ma, Ph.D(Unical),University Of Calabar



46 Cultural Stereotypes and Domestic Violence in Nigeria: A Socio-Legal Perspective

Omobamidele O. Olufemi, Babcock University



47 Colorism in Black and White: A Study of Color Consciousness/Preference among College Students in the Mid-West.

Jeanine Pittman, B.A. & Henry J. Grubb, Ph.D., University of Dubuque.



48 The Dysfunctional Interplay Between Health, Ethnicity, Religion and Underdevelopment in Nigeria

Oluwatoyin A. Asojo PhD, Baylor College of Medicine Houston Texas.



49 Whiteness, Distance, and Hospitability in Luanda

Dr. Madalina Florescu ,Centro de Estudos Africanos

Universidade do Porto, Portugal.



50 Colonising the image: The African Ape and Savagism in the work of Eugene O’Neil

Amon Saba Saakana, ph.D., Tacarigua Delivery office College of Science, Technology & Applied Arts Tacarigua Trinidad & Tobago (CoSTAATT).



51 Xenophobia, Trust and the Rainbow Nation: Exploring the Role Played by Social Trust in Determining Attitudes towards Immigrants in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Steven Gordon ,Human Sciences Research Council Democracy, Governance & Service Delivery (DGSD), South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS).



52 Xenophobia, Intra-Racism and the Politics of Exclusion: The Realities and Dynamics of Xenophobic Violence in South Africa.

Chiwueze Benedict Udeh, Prof.Nwabufo-Okeke Uzodike (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and Dr. Chris .A. Isike , University of ZuluLand.



53 Human Trafficking as a Means of Displacement and Dispossession: A Case Study of Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Merchants of Flesh and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked.

Olaniyan Solomon O.,University of Ibadan



54 Cultural Diversity and The Challenge of Intra-Racial Conflict in Nigeria

Mashood Omotosho Ph.D, Obafemi Awolowo University.



55 Shortage of African American Teachers in the Public Schools in The United States: What Can Be Done About it?

Queen Ogbomo,Ph.D, Tennessee Technological University.



56 Broken Ties and Kinship Identities : A Contemporary Family Reality

Dr Yetunde Akorede, Adeyemi College Of Education.



57 Post- Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Africa and African Diaspora: Perspectives on Religious

Traditions’ Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages

Ibigbolade Aderibigbe (University Of Georgia) and Adepeju Johnson-Bashua Phd (Lagos State University).



58 Urban Youth and Ethnic Identity in Nigeria’s Multilingual and Socio cultural Space Sogunro, Bolanle Olufumbi (Phd), University Of Ibadan.



59 Nutrition Status of Refugees and Displaced People in Nigeria: A Case Study of Oru Refugee Camp of Ogun State.

Olarewaju C.A. And Olayiwola I.O.



60 Reflections on Self and Human Rights

Oyowe Oritsegbubemi Anthony



61 Dis/Placing Ethnicity in Ola Rotimi’s Theatre

Israel Meriomame Wekpe And Patricia Owens Oni-Edigin, University Of Benin.



62 Building Coalitions for Good Governance in Nigeria: A Myth or Reality

Ajani Oludele Albert( Phd), Obafemi Awolowo University



63 A Sociological Assessment of Causes and Losses of Negative Expressions of Ethnic Variations in Nigeria

Adisa Ademola Lateef (Phd), Obafemi Awolowo University



64 Performing Ethnicity and The Ghettoisation of The Nigerian Theatre: Three Playwrights in Focus

Israel Meriomame Wekpe, University Of Benin.

65 Resistance Through a Letter: Ex British Southern Cameroons Exiles Imagine Freedom and Independence

Fonkem Achankeng I, University Of Winconsin.





66 Wole Soyinka's Voyage, Isara, and Life Writing

Adetayoalabi, Ph.D, University Of Mississippi



67 National Identity in The Multicultural State

Lawrence O. Bamikole (Phd), University Of The West Indies



68 The Interplay of Law and Equity in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God

Olubukola Olugasa, Babcock University.



69 Beyond the Amnesty: Oil, Social Displacement and Dispossession in The Niger Delta.

Iwebunor Okwechime (Ph.D),Obafemi Awolowo University.



70 Recipe for Religious Crises in Nigeria

Dr. Adefarasin, V.O., Olabisi Onabanjo University.



71 Effort and Effect in The 2012 Edo State Gubernatorial Election

A.M. Aikoriogie, University Of Benin



72 The Aladura Movement in Western Nigeria : Authentically Christian, Authentically African

Moses Oludele Idowu, President, Artillery Christian Foundation



73 Imperialism and Religious Intolerance: The Suppression of Early Prophetic Movements in Colonial Nigeria

Moses Oludele Idowu, President, Artillery Christian Foundation



74 Ethnic Politics and Elections in Africa: A Paradox

Dr.Osezua, Ehiyamen Mediayanose, Osun State University.



75 (De)Making National Citizens? Nation Building, Ethno-Religious Violence and The Tragedies of The National Youth Service Corps (Nysc) in Nigeria (1999-2013)

Abdul-Gafar Tobi Oshodi, Lagos State University.



76 Sexual Predators Or Preys: The White Male in Jude Dibia’s Novels

Ifeyinwa Genevieve Okolo, Federal University Lokoja.



77 A Socio-Literary Interpretation Of Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck and its Implications For Contemporary Nigerian Society.

Mark Osama Ighile, Ph.D, Redeemer’s University.





78 Ethnicity and The Market Metaphor in Nigerian Literature

Solomon Iguanre (Backock University) and Mark Ighile (Ph.D) Redeemer’s University



79 Ethnic Nationalism, Religious Fundamentalism and Federalism in Nigeria

Olaniyan Vic Modesola, Obafemi Awolowo University



80 Performing Across The Sea: Yoruba Race in Global Space

Bashiru Akande Lasisi (Phd), University Of Ibadan.



81 Ijigi: an Edo Ethnic Music Featuring Edo Cultural Identity in Itaogbolu Community, Ondo State. Nigeria.

Ayeyemi Ebenezer Oluwatoyin, Adeyemi College of Education.



82 Ad/Dressing Ethnicity in Nigerian Theatre

Patricia Owens Oni-Edigin And Israel Meriomame Wekpe ,University Of Benin



83 Indigenous Vocational Trades in South-Western Nigeria in Historical Perspective

Tajudeen Adewumi Adebisi (Phd), Osun State University



84 Religion and The Formation and Preservation of Cultural Identity in Nigeria

Ogidiama Avwerosuo Osivwi University of Ibadan



85 Accessibility and Justiciability: Comparisons in the Structural Policies in Educational Reform in Brazil and Nigeria

Philip Ademola Olayoku, University of Ibadan.



86 The Search For African Identity In The Diasporas.

Diana-Abasi Ibanga, University of Lagos.



87 “ To Become a Man is Not a Day Job”: ‘Small Boy’ Domestic Servants in Colonial Nigeria

Uyilawa Usuanlele, State University of New York.



88 Politicised Ethnicity and Electoral Contest in Nigeria
Omotuyi Sunday, Obafemi Awolowo University.


89 Migration of Health Care Professionals From Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review Essay.

Onaiwu W. Ogbomo, Ph.D.,Western Michigan University.



90 Postcolonialism And Socio-Political Development in Africa: Learning Through The Literary Eyes Of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

Adam, Ezinwanyi E. Phd, Babcock University.



91 A Philosophical Appraisal Of The Concept Of Common Human Origin And The Question Of Racism

Aderibigbe M.O (Ph.D.), Federal University Of Technology.



92 Hybridisation of the Politics of Ethno-Religious Identity in Nigeria

Dr. Sulaiman Kura, Usmanu Danfodiyo University



93 Ethnic Music: A Tool For Unity

Oladipo Olufunmilola Temitayo, Adeyemi College of Education.


94 Ethnic Loyalty in Selected Nigeria Video Drama: a Legal Approach

Niyi..Adebanjo (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University.





95 Cultural Crisis of Widowhood Inheritance in an African Society.

Nasir, Taofiq Olaide, Olabisi Onabanjo University.





96 Traditional and Contemporary Ethnic Disposition to Women and Leadership in Yoruba Films

Adagbada, Olufadekemi (Phd), Olabisi Onabanjo University.





97 Racial and Ethnic Politics in Autobiographies: A reading of Martin Luther King(Jr)'s

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King and Nasir El Rufai's The Accidental Public Servant

Oreofe Awokoya , Olabisi Onabanjo University.





98 A Socio-Literary Interpretation of Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck and its Implications for Contemporary Nigerian Society

Mark Ighile, Redeemer's University





99 Ethnicity and The Market Metaphor in Nigerian Literature

Solomon Iguanre and Mark Ighile, Redeemer's University.




101 Indigenous Forms and Symbols in Religious Architecture: A Case Study of the Work of Demas Nwoko a transformational Nigerian Architect. Dr. Abimbola O. Asojo, Ph.D.,University of Minnesota




102 ‘Wazobia’ as Tyranny of the Majority in Nigerian Drama.

Ameh Dennis Akoh, Osun State University.





103 Initiation and Symbolism - Connotative Tools in the Apartheid Struggle

Mirrored in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead.

Stephen O. Solanke, Ajayi Crowther University



104 Race and Class in the Literature of Caribbean Migration.

Dr Shola Adenekan , University of Leeds



.

105 A Visual Conceptualization of Moninkim Dance in Cross River State, Nigeria: Safe Guarding The Beauty of Womanhood

Bojor Enamhe, Cross River University of Technology.



106 Families and Involuntary Exodus: Traditional African and African American Family

Life under Slavery.

Donald O. Omagu PhD, City University of New York





107 “Till Death or Distance Do Us Part”: African and Slave Marriage System in the Antebellum South in Comparative Perspective.

Donald O. Omagu , City University of New York.
108 Black Nationalism and Black Renaissance: Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey’s Search for Black Liberation and Identity in Comparative Perspective.
Donald O. Omagu PhD, City University of New York
109 Ethnic Nationalism and its Enduring Political Power,

Ogungbesan, Oluseyi Abiodun , Olabisi Onabanjo University.



110 Indigenous Forms of Communication Used for Family Planning Awareness in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Ajayi Busayo R., Federal University of Technology, Akure





111 Government involvement in Religious Pilgrimage in a Secular State: It’s Implications and Interpretations in Nigeria

Professor Rotimi Omotoye, University of Ilorin.



112 From Oral Tradition to Documented History: Preservation and Documentation of Negro Spirituals from 1867 to Present.

Odujobi Kayode, Nigeria International School.



113 The Expanding Nigerian English Lexicon: Evidences from a Nigerian Professor’s

Inaugural Lecture

Kemi Olayemi, Olabisi Onabanjo University.



114 Qualitative Administration in Nigerian Universities

Adenekan, Tolulope Elizabeth, Lead City University.



115 Linguistic and Cultural Identity Endangerment: Investigation of Indigenous-Language-English Nigerian Bilinguals’ Knowledge of Implications of their Linguistic Practices

Samson Olusola Olatunji, Lead City University.



116 Nigeria, Afro-centrism and Conflict Resolution:Five Decades after- How far, How well?

Olumuyiwa Babatunde Amao and Ufo, Okeke- Uzodike, University of KwaZulu-Natal.



117 Hegemony or Survival: South Africa’s regional pursuit of soft power and the challenges of xenophobia,

Olusola Ogunnubi and Oluwaseun Tella, University of KwaZulu-Natal.



118 Analysis Of Non-Violent And Violent Strategies In Combating Patriarchal And Domestic Violence In Francophone African Fictions Of Fassinou’s Modukpè Ou Le Rêve Brisé And Calixthe Beyala C’est Le Soleil Qui M’a Brulee.

Onojobi, Temidayo (Ph.D),Olabisi Onabanjo University.




119 Welfare Associations and Gender Identity Transformation in Post Colonial Nigeria: A . Study of Igbo Women in Makurdi Town.

Okoye Onyinye, Benue State University



120 Votes and Violence: An Evaluation of Ethnic Politics in Nigeria
AFOLABI, Olugbemiga Samuel Ph.D, Obafemi Awolowo University.
121 Ethnic Consciousness and Artistic Creativity – Phoenix Savage and Albert La Verge as the Basis
Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe, Obafemi Awolowo University


122 A Literary Reading of Achebe’s There Was A Country: A Personal Story Of Biafra

Ogunduyile Abimbola, Federal University of Technology Akure


123 Eurocentrism, ‘African Art’ and The ‘Egypt’ Factor
Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe, Obafemi Awolowo University

124 Race and Place as Ethnic Identity in Toyin Falola’s Memoir
Dr. Doyin Aguoru, University of Ibadan.

125 Embodied Movements in the Circum-Caribbean Diaspora: Negotiating the Cultural Politics of Dance in the Construction of National Peoplehood

Gee. A. Yawson M.S.,Florida International University

126 Ethnicity as a Variant of Racism: A Case of the Igede of Central Nigeria

Victor Iyanya (PhD), Benue State University.
127 Festival Performances in Africa and the Relevance of Richard Schechner’s Performance Theoretic
Anya Egwu ,Covenant University, Ota

128 The Acceptability of Frog (Ambystoma Maculatum) as an Edible Meat in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Olarewaju C.A. and Olurankinse C.A.
129 Chinua Achebe’s There Was Country: A Personal Account of Biafra and the Politics of Tribal Spokesmanship
Banire Abiodun, University of Ibadan

130 Polygyny and the Womanist Discourse in Under The Brown Rusted Roofs and The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Igwe O.C, University Of Ilorin.
131 Beyond Apartheid: A Study of Recent South African Drama

Afolayan Bosede F. (PhD). University of Lagos
132 Ethnic Neuroses and Rituals of Violence in Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April
Oladipupo Oluremi Olalekan .Ajayi Crowther University,
133 Selected Readings in the History of Science and British Colonial West Africa.
Daniel Jean-Jacques, University of Texas
134 Metaphors of Nation and War in Achebe’s There Was A Country
Onwu Inya , Federal University of Technology, Akure

135 Sporting Diaspora: Nigerian Boxers in Liverpool, 1940-1970“



Michael Gennaro, University of Florida


136 Life Imitating Art- Impact of Nollywood on Culture in Africa and the Diaspora
Oluwatoyin A. Asojo Phd,Baylor College Of Medicine Houston Texas
Oluwatosin A. Asojo Pe Fluor Corporation Texas
Abimbola O. Asojo Aia Phd, College Of Design University of Minnesota
Theresa T. Asojo Phd, Joseph Babalola University
137 Ethnicity and a Sociolinguistic Discourse of Ojukwu’s Post Civil War Speech
Akano M. K , The Polytechnic, Ibadan
138 Migration, Eroded Cultures and Intergenerational Dialectics in Aminata Sow Fall’s Novels Eunice E.Omonzejie, Ambrose Alli University
139 The Nexus between Ethnic and Religious Conflicts in Transitional Democratic Society
Animashaun Rofiah, Olateju, University of Ibadan

140 An Identity Crisis: the case of skin bleaching in the Jamaican Context

Sandra McCalla, The University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica.

141 Home, Exile and Imagination in Toyin Falola’s and Vivel Bahl’s Scoundrel of Deferral
Azeez Akinwumi Sesan, Al- Hikmah University
142 Loric Denigration of the Female in Urhobo Proverbial Discourse
Ohwovoriole, Felicia. Ph.D. University of Lagos.
143 Museums: Memory and Creativity for Social Change.
Nelson O. Fashina, Ph.D University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
144 Against God and Man: Critisizing the Profanity of St Janet’s Music and Dance
Olalusi, Kehinde Adedamola, University of Ilorin.

145 The Environment and Politics: A Reading of Tanure Ojaide’s The Tale of the Harmattan Shittu Toyin Al- Hikmah University, Ilorin , Kwara State


<mailto:aas...@umn.edu>











A Call for Papers: The 4th International Toyin Falola Annual Conference (TOFAC): Durban, South Africa: 3rd- 5th July, 2014

Theme: Culture, Democracy and Development
Venue: Blue Waters Hotel: Durban
Host: Alexius Amtaika: The University of the Free State,
South Africa

The University of the Free State (South Africa) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin (USA) and the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) invite scholars from around the world to submit papers for the 2014 Toyin Falola Annual Conference (TOFAC) to be held in Durban South Africa from 3rd to 5th July, 2014, under the theme: Culture, Democracy and Development.

The Conference is named after Professor Toyin Falola, The Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the US as well as the Vice President of the International Scientific Committee of UNESCO's Slave Route Project. Professor Falola is the Series Editor of five monograph series and sponsors and funds manuscripts for publication for scholars from both developed and developing countries. Please see the following URLs for more information: http://www.toyinfalola.com<http://www.toyinfalola.com/>; http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa.

This is the first time that the Conference will be held in Southern Africa, in spite of the fact that it has been held annually in West Africa since 2011 and at the University of Texas at Austin since 2002. Prof. Falola and the TOFAC Board have agreed to partner us in hosting this Conference in South Africa to promote scholarship and publication of books in the US publishing houses. As such, the conference has a commitment to professional development which will be fostered through workshops in writing, publishing, and conference presentation. The conference will also provide ample time for professionals from various disciplines and geographical locations to interact, exchange ideas, and receive feedbacks. Young academics and graduate students from across the globe are especially encouraged to attend and present papers and will be partnered with a senior scholar to encourage their own growth as scholars.

While the conceptual and programmatic connection between democracy, culture and development may not be apparent, we are convinced that there is a vast field of play between them, and that they inform and blend into one another. For instance, some scholars have written on the concept of a “culture of democracy” or “democratic culture,” and the extent to which democracy, or democratization, is culturally determined in theory and practice remains open to debate. Also, scholarly and popular debates on the causal and symbiotic relationship between democracy and development have intensified since the dawn of post-Cold War era of democratization.

The question of whether development undergirds democracy or promotes democratic impulses calls for more debate and investigation. Conversely, the causal link between democracy and development, once taken for granted, is now widely debated. The rise of China and of other developmental models outside the liberal democratic frame has introduced new wrinkles into the tenuous neoliberal consensus that democracy conduces to development.

Moreover, what exactly is meant by “development” and “democracy” is up in the air, often debated but rarely resolved. Nor is culture, dynamic and fluid as it is in the era of increased global flows, an entity to be compartmentalized or understood in fixed terms.

Paper proposals may use culture as a point of departure to explore political, economic, and social phenomena. They may also use the notion of culture to interrogate development and democracy, and vice versa.

However one defines development, can culture assume a deterministic or influential role in it? One could also ask whether development, marked by tangible signs or a set of ideas, visions, and claims, can determine the contours of culture. Proposals may take up these questions from any disciplinary or multidisciplinary perspectives.

In addition to being real things that signpost or denote group and institutional practices, democracy, culture, and development are claims with ideological power. Claims about who is cultured, democratic, or developed presuppose vertical relationships between persons, peoples, and societies and make assumptions based on systems of valuation. These claims produce power-laden paradigms and positions, as well as disempowered or devalued others. They also produce inclusion, exclusion, and competition for resources and recognition among groups.

But these three concepts are not just hegemonic constructions; they do not have power outside economic, social, and political relations. The ways in which African and Africa-descended peoples and groups negotiate and contest cultural, democratic, and developmental systems of meaning and praxis have the capacity to confer substance or empty abstractness on them. We therefore welcome papers that examine these three grids in relation to the lived experiences of African communities in Africa and the diaspora-papers that examine the dynamic relationships between everyday experiences of African peoples and the assumptions and meanings that inhere in these concepts.

We also anticipate papers that question these three concepts and claims while clarifying them in relation to the lives, predicaments, hopes, and anxieties of Africans and Africa-descended peoples.

Proposals and papers may explore one of more of the following subthemes and topics, and prospective presenters may construct their own topics from the questions and issues outlined above:

i. Sub-Themes on Culture
Cultural Patrimonies; Cultural artifacts; Cultural conflicts; Culture and Power; Culture and identity; Aesthetics; Cultural monument; Intellectual culture; Myths and memories; Oral and written cultural texts; Tradition and modernity; Globalization and culture; Cultural imperialism; Cultural flows; Youth and culture; African Popular cultures; Diaspora African cultures; Cultural economies; The politics of culture; Political cultures.

ii. Sub-Themes on Democracy
Democratization; Elections; Election crises; Democratic models; Political theory; Theories of democracy; Constitutionalism; Political traditions; State-making and statecraft; Political histories; Democracy and Ethnicity; Political Parties; The politics of development; Democracy and development.

iii. Sub-Themes on Development
Culture and development; “Developmental dictatorship”; Development agencies; Development discourse, NGOs; Histories of Development; Modernization and development; Economies of taste; Development and democracy; Development and neoliberalism; Globalization and development; Development debates; Biographies; Case studies; External Impact

Conferences papers will be published in Four Edited Volumes.


The deadline for submitting paper proposals is April 30th, 2014. Proposals should include a 250-word abstract and title, as well as the author's name, address, telephone number, email address, and institutional affiliation.

Please submit all abstracts to Alexius Amtaika (Alex): amta...@ufs.ac.za<mailto:amta...@ufs.ac.za> Tel: +27 722 78 2231/ +27 83 82 55155/ +27 799 552 566.






























________________________________


Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
104 Inner Campus Drive
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com
http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue