LWATI - A Journal of Contemporary Research
VOLUME 6 (2) DECEMBER 2009
Editorial
There is a new kid on the block! This is the groundbreaking issue of the newly biennial
LWATI Journal and we are truly glad to welcome you - the readers, essayists and stake
holders. You are the main reason for the birth of this new baby. We therefore dedicate
it entirely to you. Please accept it with pleasure!
Through our foray into this lofty intellectual and ennobling endeavour, we have
discerned a great desire on the part of African and Africanist scholars and critics
to express ideas and opinions in their relevant areas of specialization. The LWATI
Journal could not have emerged at a more auspicious time to meet this legitimate
aspiration. We would be glad if these expressions promote knowledge and learning
in our communities. The key goal of LWATI is to advance knowledge where ever the
Journal is read and evaluated.
We are profoundly thankful to GOD Almighty and to essayists, reviewers and readers
for enabling this Journal to flourish. We equally wish you happy reading and abundant
blessings! Please spread the knowledge that you gain from LWATI.
Francis Ibe MOGU,
Editor.
Education
Demand and Supply of Teachers for Primary
Schools in the 21st Century Nigeria
M.O. Omo-Ojugo, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria
Abstract
How to ensure Nigerians have access to Universal Basic Education has often
attracted the attention of some States and Federal Government of Nigeria since 1955.
Several factors, bordering on supply of teachers, facilities, finance have constrained
implementation of well fashioned policies. Demand and supply of teachers for
primary schools have serious consequences on the implementation of primary school
education in Nigeria.
This paper explores the demand and supply of teachers for primary schools in the
21st century in Nigeria especially with the introduction of Universal Basic Education
in Nigeria and attempts to ensure the attainment of United Nations Millennium
Development Goals and Education for All (EFA) by the year 2015.
Stress Profile of Secretarial Administration
Students in Nigeria
Monday Bassey Ubangha, University of Lagos, Nigeria and Mary B. Ubangha
Lagos State Police Command,
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship of some demographic
variables to the experience of stress among trainee secretaries. Additionally,
the prevalence and sources of stress among trainee secretaries were studied. Four
hypotheses and two research questions were formulated for investigation. The study
was a descriptive survey and employed the Student Stress Inventory developed by the
researchers to garner the relevant data. A total of 100 participants (35 males and 65
females) drawn from the Department of Secretarial Studies, The Polytechnic, Calabar -
Nigeria took part in the study. The respondents were drawn from all the grade levels of
the ND and HND programmes and were aged between seventeen and thirty-five with
a mean age of 24.6years. Results following the analysis of data indicate significant
differences in stress levels among Secretarial Administration students due to gender
and pre-training experience. Females seemed to experience more stress than their
male counterparts while those with the relevant pre-training experience reported less
stress than those without the relevant pre-training experience. However, stress among
trainee secretaries was independent of their age and marital status. About 64% of the
respondents found training for secretaryship as either extremely stressful or stressful.
The major sources of stress to trainee secretaries were examination syllabuses too
demanding in some courses and too much academic assignment to do each day while
the least sources were campus living conditions, overcrowding in hostels and the
consequences of engaging in too much social activities to the detriment of school
work. Based on these findings some recommendations were made
To Teach or not to Teach: The Politics of
Becoming a Business Education Teacher.
Burman M. Sithole, University of Botswana
Abstract
This article examined the perceptions and attitudes of Business Education trainee
teachers towards teaching as an employment option in life. The findings revealed that
business graduates were reluctant to take up teaching as a career mostly because it was
not viewed as a financially rewarding profession. Students had expectations of landing
higher status and highly paying jobs in commerce, industry and the public sectors. They
felt that the knowledge and skills they acquired in undergraduate business courses
would not be fully utilised in teaching. To attract graduates to teaching, competitive
salaries and conditions of service would need to be put in place and there is need by
educators to market teaching and elevate its status as a career option when outlining
career opportunities to business students.
Business Educators’ Views on the Entrepreneurial
Competencies Needed by Business Education Graduates in
Edo and Delta States of Nigeria
Ojo, Kennedy E. College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin, and
Ekpenyong, Lawrence E, University of Benin,
Abstract
This study investigated Business Educators’ views on the entrepreneurial competencies
needed by business education graduates in Nigeria. A 23-item instrument was used
for this study. The study sample comprised all the 66 Business Education lecturers
in the universities and colleges of Education in Edo and Delta states of Nigeria. Edo
and Delta states are neighbouring states located in the south-south geo-political zone
of Nigeria. They are also one of the petroleum oil producing areas in Nigeria. The
collected data were analysed using the descriptive statistics, while the t-test measure
was used for testing the hypothesis. The findings of the study reveals that all the
respondents agreed that the 23 competency items are needed by business education
graduates. Furthermore, the findings show a no significant difference in the views of
male and female business education lecturers on the entrepreneurial competencies
needed by them. Finally, some recommendations that are likely to enable both the
pre-service and in-service acquire relevant entrepreneurial competencies have been
proffered.
Quality and Standard Balancing in Nigerian
University Education: Implications for the Attainment
of the Millennium Development Goals
Onyene, Virgy, University of Lagos, Uche, Chineze, University of Port-Harcourt,
and Ikebude, Osita St. Augustine’s College of Education, Akoka – Yaba, Nigeria
Abstract
Education is very crucial in human capital development for the attainment of
excellence in the vision area of macro economic, population growth, equity, and
natural resource and environmental management. Thus for education to remain
“instrument per excellence” (NPE 2004), it must be of high quality with an acceptable
standard tone. This paper took its conceptual framework from existing practice
ennoblement assumptions, the educational variables that can be utilized to attain
quality and standard balance in Nigeria universities. Also, this paper constructively
matched operative issues found to be constraining quality and standard in university
education in Nigeria with strategic solutions in order to balance sustainable system on
theory and practice. It argues that there still exists educational policies such as quota
system and government non- chalant attitude to education, thus there is need for a
review of higher education policies in the light of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDG). This paper therefore posits that for positive reflection of the MDG in higher
education, the government should consider the review and implementation of these
educational variables in universities.
Awareness and Curricula Integration of Sustainable
Development Indices in University Programmes in Nigeria
Ahunanya Stella , University of Port Harcourt and Uche Chineze Nigerian Army
School of Finance and Administration, Lagos, Nigeria.
Introduction
The very essence of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) makes it
imperative for any developing nation to put in place the where- withal not only to
adopt and implement the resolution of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD) in order to meet the challenge of its products ability to fit into
the third Industrial Revolution of the globalized 21st century world, but also to make
sure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are achieved before the 2015
which automatically translates to accelerated economic growth and development.
Since the ESD enables people to anticipate and meet the challenges that threaten
their very existence as citizens of nations and planet earth, Nigeria being a developing
nation has realized that education is the most important key to be used in opening
the door to economic growth and development and this she enunciated in her
development programme- the National Economic Empowerment and Development
Strategy (NEEDS).
Connecting Reading and Writing Through Whole
Language Activities: A Strategy For Achieving
Literacy for National Development
Adeosun A. O. and Maduekwe A. N. University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Introduction
Of paramount concern to all countries of the world is the need to adequately develop
their citizenry to cope with the challenges of the today’s knowledge societies. This
concern recognizes the fundamental importance of teaching literacy skills, not only as
a means for people to be able to read and handle words, sentences and ideas, but it also
requires them to take the information they have read, apply it for their own purposes,
and also learn new things Good reading, comprehension and communication skills
are therefore essential in handling the wide range of knowledge people are exposed
to in their daily life.
History
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
and the Struggle for Democratisation in Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe) 1972-1980
Munyaradzi Mushonga, National University of Lesotho
Abstract
Christian Churches have played, and continue to play important roles in the histories
of many African countries. In Southern Africa, the Catholic Church played an
important role in the liberation struggles of many countries. This paper examines the
contribution of the Catholic Church through the lens of the Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace in the democratisation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). It advances
the proposition that the Church, through the Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace, played an important role in the internationalization of the Rhodesian crisis
between 1972 and 1980. It argues first, that the Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace performed a sterling job of breaking the enormous silence about the horrifying
things that were taking place in Rhodesia through the preparation, publication and
dissemination of objective information; second that the Commission succeeded in
countering Rhodesian government’s propaganda and psychological warfare campaign;
third and finally that the Commission brought enough internal and external pressure to
bear on the Rhodesian government to hasten its collapse.
Obolo (Andoni) Women in The Nigerian Civil
War, 1967-1970
John H. Enemugwem and Romokere B. Sara, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract
The thrust of this paper is the activities of women in the Nigerian Civil War.
Considering the Obolo (Andoni) experience, it deliberates on their contributions in
six major areas. First is the part they played in the causes of the war. Second are
their socio-economic roles during the war. The third concerns their enlistment in
the army and paramilitary forces. Obolo women also performed broadcasting and
propaganda duties. Their presence in the paramedical corps, with which they saved
lives, was equally significant. After the war they did not relent in contributing towards
the reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes of the war affected
areas.
Language Study
Deprivation and Development of Indigenous Languages:
An Evaluation of Cross River State, Nigeria.
Offiong Ani Offiong, University of Calabar,, Nigeria
Abstract
Deprivation like poverty is a catch-phrase on every developing economy. The threat
(real or imagined) posed by poverty to growth from any dimension is at the root of
stagnation, including Language Development. Language development is a task of
preparing a language to serve as a vehicle for literacy and education. It is a conscious
intervention policy to revitalize languages. Everyone wants clear communication in
the development process and this will aid to clearly stipulate how deprivation affects
languages development. We used sociolinguistic underpinnings to analysis and
explain the vulnerability of Cross River State to poverty and language development.
We have been able to come out with the following key findings – deprivation like
poverty affects language development. Language growth, because of poverty is
stagnant as it concerns most languages and finally language extinction rare its head in
areas where poverty strives.
The Role of African Christian Discourse in Redefining
Identity, Literature and Language Education in Southern
Africa: The Case of the Founding Text of Paul Mwazha’s
African Apostolic Church
Andrew Tichaenzana Manyawu, National University of Lesotho,
Abstract
Being both a subject and a medium of learning, language is the vehicle through
which society passes its worldview to youths. This raises questions of selection and
grading of material to be incorporated into syllabi and textbooks. This paper argues
that Southern African language syllabi need a paradigm shift in order to better reflect
an African society seeking to reaffirm its identity after decades of oppression. There is
need to open up the language curriculum to discourses widely consumed by Africans
but hitherto ignored by formal educational systems still biased towards Western
worldview. These include the discursive production of African Instituted Churches
(AIC). The founding text of the African Apostolic Church (AAC) of Zimbabwean,
Paul Mwazha, is examined from the perspective of intertextuality in order to illustrate
its literary and educational value. A case is then made for the inclusion of such texts
in secondary school curricula in Southern Africa.
Literature
Gender Roles in Initiation Songs of the
Igembe People of Kenya
John M. Kobia, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya and
Kitula King’ei Kenyatta University, Nairobi - Kenya
Abstract
This article examines and critically analyses gender images in initiation songs among
the Igembe community, an African ethnic group of Eastern Bantu in Kenya. The article
traces the evolution of the concept of gender from Plato’s time to the 21st Century and
places it within the Igembe people’s worldview using initiation songs as a point of
reference. It is revealed that both man and woman play a crucial and complementary
role in the socio-economical life in Igembe community. However, despite the crucial
role that women play, they are devalued due to societal attitudes and beliefs as evident
in the initiation songs analysed.
Proverbial Dirges: The Urhobo Example
Felicia Ohwovoriole, University of Lagos
Abstract
The proverb is a literary expression of wisdom which offer the speaker a medium for
the projection and fulfilment of a variety of socially desired goals. The proverb is an
instrument of cultural transmission and its study can give a penetrating picture of the
people’s way of life, their philosophy, their criticism of life, moral truths and social
values. Many proverbs abound in Urhobo funeral chants, songs and recitations and
most of the proverbs have several meanings. One of Nwoga’s important observations
about the Igbo proverb which is true of Urhobo proverbs is that most proverbs have
three meanings: the literal, the philosophical and the contextual. The paper focuses on
proverbs embedded in Urhobo funeral poetry and their literary and contextual analysis.
The data gathering methods adopted is participatory observation and interviews.
Autofictional themes, Practices and Strategies in View of
the Construction of Intercultural Values at the University
of Swaziland.
Karen Ferreira-Meyers, University of Swaziland,
Abstract:
This article explores the notion of autofiction/faction: a post-modern literary concept
which represents a blend of fact and fiction. At the same time, the paper wants to draw
the reader’s attention on the pedagogical possibilities of autofictional writing in the
teaching of literature at the University of Swaziland. The notion of interculturality,
with its goal of creating understanding of and among people, while safeguarding the
relative identities of the actors involved, guides the analysis of postmodern feminine
writing in the form of three Francophone women authors, C. Beyala, N. Bouraoui
and A. Nothomb. Beyala writes autofiction from a feminist perspective, hers is the
struggle for recognition of women rights and women’s autonomy within a patriarchal
society. Bouraoui came to autofiction from a psychoanalytical perspective, which
makes her a descendant from Doubrovsky, the inventor of the autofiction neologism.
Nothomb proposes a very personal and cathartic relationship to writing through which
she wished to reach women in general. In conclusion, the article suggests the benefits
of the analysis of the concept of autofiction as well as of the themes and language
used in autofictional texts to university students in Swaziland because they promote
intercultural understanding and acceptance.
A Critical Study of Joseph Edoki’s The African Dream”
Jude Aigbe Agho, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
In all these novels, the oligarchy to be found at the top of the
party hierarchy is depicted as vulgar, sensual and uncultured.
The luxury of ministerial offices and official residences is
blatant and extravagant, cynicism is the order of the day,
drinking to excess frequent, and power is simply a way of
getting rich. … (Claude Wauthier. The Literature and Thought
of Modern Africa. 1978: 320)
In whose name should the ‘handful’ monopolize the riches of
our countries? In whose name should they live in excessive
luxury while the rest strive to obtain food? These are some of
the questions that the African writer asks himself, or at least
those a self-respecting African writer should ask himself.
(Coovi Innocent Datondji, 1980: 88)
Abstract
As can be seen from the above epigraphic statements, the image of governance in novels
written by African writers about civilian governments and military regimes in African
nations has generally been bleak, negative, directionless and vacuous, especially so
in novels about post-independence Africa, where power has become in the hands of
the ruling class, whether civilian or military, a conduit-pipe for self-aggrandizement,
embezzlement of public funds, corruption, graft and hero-worshipping. African
writers across the continent, starting with Nigeria’s Chinua Achebe in A Man of the
People and Anthills of the Savannah, Soyinka in The Interpreters, Festus Iyayi in
Violence, The Contract and Heroes and Abubakar Gimba in Sunset for a Mandarin,
through Ghana’s Ayi Kwei Armah in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Fragments
and Osiris Rising, to Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o in A Grain of Wheat, Petals of
Blood, Devil on the Cross, Matigari and Wizard of the Crow have generally depicted
governance in Africa as we have painted above. The attitude of indignation and protest
expressed in the above-mentioned texts is not misplaced, but derives from the writers’
frustration resulting from the truncation of the joy of the masses of the African people
shortly after the attainment of political independence as a result of the derailment of
their pre-independence expectations by the African ruling class.
However, so many years after the attainment of independence in African nations
and states, there is the need for African writers as custodians of the values of their
societies, reformers and beacons of hope of the African people to foist a paradigm
shift from the hitherto nihilistic and pessimistic outlooks of their creative works to
The Nigerian Novel and the Imperative of Good Governance
164 LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 6(2) 2009
one that is essentially supportive of the general drive to re-orientate and transform the
society for good. This is one sure way of sustaining the growth of democracy and good
governance in Africa. In Nigeria, this shift is clearly seen in one novel by a Nigerian
writer, namely: Joseph Edoki in The African Dream.¹ This study is based essentially
on this text as it critically assesses governance as portrayed in the spotlighted novel
against the backdrop of the realities that are observable in the larger society.
Authenticating History With Oral Narratives:
The Example of Ekajuk Clan in Ogoja Local
Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria
Francis Mowang Ganyi, University of Calabar, Nigeria.
Abstract
It is generally accepted that oral narratives serve as a veritable means for historical
reconstruction. This holds true, particularly in societies where written documents
do not subsist. The Ekajuk community, though very warlike, is a relatively small
community that lacks a written history. The attempt to reconstruct the history of their
migrations and settlements up to present day has necessitated this write-up which is
intended to serve as a reference point for future historical or anthropological work
in the area. The write-up is further expected to serve as a historical record for the
teaching of Ekajuk history in Primary and Secondary schools in the area.
Through interviews and oral renditions, the writer has traced Ekajuk movements
and their supposed ancestors from Zululand in East Africa, through the Cameroon
republic, to their present location in Nigeria. The exercise however, requires
painstaking sifting of oral narratives to synthesize with oral information provided by
elders in order to get a historical view-point. It is however, rewarding in the end.
Translation, Principles and Application in
Theatre and Media Studies.
Edde M. Iji, University of Calabar Nigeria
Abstract
Theoretically, the paper discusses the principle and practice in translation as broadly
applicable to theatre and media studies. It characterises translation as one of the literary
triplets to which also belong adaptation and transposition; each a phenomenon of art
as imitation, capable of extending its frontiers of knowledge through processesual
recycling of an existing original source text to a target text, also capable of ideally
observing a good measure of literary fidelity; in respect of its original source text,
diachronically and synchronically, with all its semiological essences. Thus the
paper discusses, among other subtitles in focus, the essence of its message, a history
of translation as encapsulated from the renaissance to postmodernism, emphatic
on African experience in translation, perspectives on translation, principles and
application. It dwells on faithfulness in translation with appropriate examples visà-
vis salient elements of subversive translation; translation as conditioned by sociocultural
milieux and related concepts in the process of recycling, cloning and updating
of historical, metaphysical and philosophical circumstances and constructs. Like
adaption and transposition, it is an aspect of irreducible and inalienable mythos, in all
its literary essence. In this regard, it is a transcultural, intercultural and intracultural
phenomenon, with coordinate interlingual, translingual and intralingual paradigms,
promotional to civilization, growth and enrichment of multiculturalism. Translations
have afforded generation after generation opportunities to share in the rich ideas,
ideals, discoveries, inventions and theories of iconic figures like Christ, Aristotle,
Plato, Galileo and Kopernicus etc; enriching humanity immeasurably, timelessly and
pricelessly.
Mother/Daughter Relationship: Psychological
Implication of Love in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Onuora Ben Nweke, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Motherhood posed great challenges to African American women under slavery as
reflected in literary works by Black writers. Black mothers lost the opportunity and
freedom to perform roles of ‘caregivers’ to their children. Instead, their children’s
milk was appropriated, under very humiliating and intolerable conditions, to nourish
white babies whose mothers were incapacitated. As victims of such humiliating and
shameful experiences, the black women, realizing the implication of this situation
to their sex, developed survival strategies to protect themselves and their female
children. This resulted in some very strange relationships between mothers and their
daughters.
This paper re-examines Toni Morrison’s Beloved to identify an example of the
types of mother/daughter relationship that existed between black mothers and their
daughters and the implications of such relationship on the Black American society.
The paper is a psychoanalytic reading, utilizing Melanie Klein’s Object Relations
theory to reveal the psychological motivations for the behaviour of the protagonists
of the novel in the peculiar circumstances they find themselves. The paper exposes
the slave masters’ strategies under the slave regime in America and the psychological
implication of decimating the blacks and their family institutions on the generation of
the Blacks in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Mother/Daughter Relationship: Psychological
Implication of Love in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Onuora Ben Nweke, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Motherhood posed great challenges to African American women under slavery as
reflected in literary works by Black writers. Black mothers lost the opportunity and
freedom to perform roles of ‘caregivers’ to their children. Instead, their children’s
milk was appropriated, under very humiliating and intolerable conditions, to nourish
white babies whose mothers were incapacitated. As victims of such humiliating and
shameful experiences, the black women, realizing the implication of this situation
to their sex, developed survival strategies to protect themselves and their female
children. This resulted in some very strange relationships between mothers and their
daughters.
This paper re-examines Toni Morrison’s Beloved to identify an example of the
types of mother/daughter relationship that existed between black mothers and their
daughters and the implications of such relationship on the Black American society.
The paper is a psychoanalytic reading, utilizing Melanie Klein’s Object Relations
theory to reveal the psychological motivations for the behaviour of the protagonists
of the novel in the peculiar circumstances they find themselves. The paper exposes
the slave masters’ strategies under the slave regime in America and the psychological
implication of decimating the blacks and their family institutions on the generation of
the Blacks in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
The Concept of Illness and Musical Intervention Among
Members of the Iyayi Society of the Esan, Edo State of
Nigeria.
Charles Onomudo Aluede, and Omoera Osakue Stevenson, Ambrose Alli University,
Nigeria
Absract
The healing effect of music on man is very significant in most parts of the world.
However, not much has been done by African researchers to study music and the
ailments it heals especially among the peoples of Nigeria. This work examines the
therapeutic effect of music in Iyayi society of Esan community, Edo state of Nigeria.
The concept of illness, illness causation, the healing system and the specific songs
used in healing of some ailments are investigated. It was found that music in the
society is used as medicine as well as accompaniment to healing rites. The study
concludes that Iyayi songs hold much promise for the development of pan African
music therapy and as such should be notated. It therefore recommends that Iyayi
songs are of immense benefits in the treatment and management of labour pains,
insomnia and general debilities.
Politics and Development
Down the Great Drains: A Sociological Discourse of the
Entangle and Challenges of Corruption and Development in
Nigeria
E. B. J. Iheriohanma, Federal University of Technology, P. M. B. 1526 Owerri, Imo
State Nigeria.
Abstract
The drains in human and material resources and the challenges posed by corruption
to socio- economic development, particularly in third World countries have remained
an indelible enigma. The economic growth rates in industrially developed economies
of the North and recently, the Asian Tigers are rising geometrically while the per
capita income in the developing economies have either been declining, constant or
have risen at negligible rates. Major causes of this development status are traced to
the inability of the developing countries, particularly in Africa to insist on standards
of authentic and knowledge leadership, problems of insecurity, fear of investment and
dearth of enabling structures for development. Corruption has been seen to be at the
centre of this cataclysmic crisis of development. It dampens the spirit of identification,
commitment, entrepreneurship, patriotism and nationalism. It commits the citizenry to
a socio-psychological duel in their efforts for survival. This paper uses three paradigms
to explain this duel. It suggests a reform redirected at the cultural values of material
acquisition, a holistic fight on corruption, adoption of transparency in governance, use
of critical agenda and local organizations for micro-economic stability to counter the
effects of corruption and underdevelopment.
Aborigines-Migrant Settlers Crisis and Reconstruction
Efforts in two Yoruba Communities in South Western
Nigeria
Adisa Ademola and Agunbiade Ojo M., Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.
Abstract
Communities coexist for several reasons. Many traditional Yoruba communities are
not an exemption as quite a number of communities were brought together partially
based on the need to fight against a common enemy as well as prevent invasion. Ile-Ife
and Modakeke-Ife are two neighbouring communities demonstrating such historical
background. The communities have co-existed peaceful for several decades, shared
many things in common including cases of intermarriages until they started having
communal clashes. The crisis have caused significant changes to the existing social
relations between the two communities, resulting in widespread breakdown of law and
order, destruction of lives and properties as well as homelessness and dispossession
of farmlands. Despite the intensity of the crisis and the overwhelming odds, the
communities have remained as neighbours. What are the sources of the communities’
resilience amidst the disaster? Forty Seven in-depth interviews were held with two
groups of adults (youths and the elderly) on gender basis who are residents in the
two communities. Findings revealed that informal social network and some formal
community institutions were the most significant factors enhancing participants’
resilience during and after the crisis. However, the study also disturbingly revealed that
there is still bitterness centring on farm land rights within the community, and partisan
politics have undermined previous efforts at addressing the issue. The study concludes
that disrupted social networks could erode community cohesion and political factors
have the potential to further diminish resilience against crisis in the future.
Africa and Ethnic Conflict Management:
A Comparative Study of Nigeria and South Africa
Patrick Osatohamwen Oviasuyi and Jim Uwadiae, Ambrose Alli University,
Nigeria.
Abstract
This paper proposes, among other things, that ethnic conflicts in Africa are
fallout of colonialism. Relying on the comparative study of Nigeria and South
Africa, it is the contention in this paper that ethnic conflict which has been at the
heart of African countries development problem is a product of skewed economy,
authoritarian governance and religious bigotry. There is no gainsaying the fact that
African countries in contemporary times contend with greater challenges to peace
and stability than ever before. Conflicts igniting factors in Africa have been a hotch
- potch of insecurity, instability and poverty manifesting in hunger and starvation.
All these are themselves products of corrupt and rapacious political institutions that
assumed power in the African countries. This has been the case in countries of sub-
Saharan Africa like Sierra-Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and the Democratic Republic
of Congo. The contention therefore in this paper is that conflict has become a reoccurring
decimal in Africa because the countries lack political will and consequently
ineffective in conflict management. This paper is also meant to be a contribution
towards the ongoing search for new means of managing ethnic conflict in Africa. The
paper compares the management of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and South Africa with
a view to underscoring the intricacies in managing deep-rooted and complex conflicts
in Africa.
Socialism as an African Social and Political
Philosophy: Senghor’s Paradigm
Godwin Azenabor, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Abstract
The paper interrogates the meanings and practices of African political thoughts,
especially the theory put forward by Leopold Sedar Senghor. What is the distinguishing
factor of African Socialism? What is the direction of African socio-political philosophy?
What is the African conception of man that determines the socio-political theory? It is
in an attempt to answer these and other related questions that the paper is written.
We argue that Socialism is socialism; there cannot be anything like African Socialism,
European Socialism, American Socialism and even Scientific Socialism. This is
because socialism is based on two premises: (i) Equity (ii) Non-exploitation. These
are value-laden, moral and non-scientific. Socialism can be applied as a means of
economic, social and political advancement in any society. Although situation and
condition may differ but the basic productive and distributive principles remain the
same.
Patterns and Processes of Recruitment and
Trafficking into sex Work in Nigeria
Aborisade, R. A. and Aderinto A. A, .University of Ibadan
Abstract
Nigeria contributes to the global problem of the trafficking of young women and
girls mainly for sexual exploitation as a major country of origin of the victims.
Using information gathered from Edo and Lagos States of Nigeria, through the
use of Case studies, In-depth and key-Informant Interviews, this paper probes the
strategies employed by the traffickers and activities that characterize the recruitment
and trafficking into sex work. The study found the family to be both facilitators of
recruitment and exploiters of the prostitution of their relatives. The recruitment patterns
and trafficking processes were characterized with incidences of deception, extortion,
violence and exploitation with severe consequences on the emotional, psychological
and health condition of the victims. To contain the activities of the traffickers, the use
of formal and informal channels of education to enlighten the populace on the ulterior
motives of the traffickers is suggested.
Towards a Genuinely Participatory Approach to
Poverty Alleviation in Uyo Lga, Akwa Ibom State
Charles E. Udosen, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Abstract
Research evidence shows that commercial banks are not keenly interested in
financing agriculture The commercial banks on the other hand argue that the farmers
and governments have not provided a default risk-reducing environment to enhance
lending. In the light of the foregoing , the participatory rural appraisal technique
[PRA] is being proposed as a remedy for rapid transformation of the agricultural
sector/poverty reduction. There is the need therefore for a thorough insight into the
different dimension of default risk as a means of suggesting some ways by which it
could be reduced. It is for this reason that PRA was employed in this survey to identify
potential beneficiaries before evolving the loan scheme. It is crucial as we can now
maintain close contact with the borrowers through regular visit to keep the obligation
constantly before him.
Political Anger: The Basis for Contemporary Lack
of Civility in Nigerian Politics
William .E. Odion, and Patrick N. Uhumwangho, College of Education, Igueben,
Edo State. Nigeria
Abstract
The incidence of political anger and its dynamics calls for concern in the political
arena. It has left in its trail all forms of casualties and threat to political and
democratic stability in Nigeria. This paper argued that high stakes in politics, limited
avenues for ventilating anger, the tendency to focus on majority ethnic groups while
leaving the minority, conflict of interest and personality among political elites, the
structural dysfunction of political parties, the nature of electoral process, institutional
collaboration amongst others are responsible for political anger. It further argued that
violence and other forms of negative political behaviors particularly during elections
are the manifestation of political anger. The consequences are enormous and are both
on the individual and nation. Methodologically, the article relies on secondary data
for its analysis and concluded by suggesting measures that can be taken to minimize
political anger in the polity.
The Determinants of Supply Side Intermediation
Performance of Commercial Banks in Nigeria:
An Error Correction Mechanism Approach
Enoma, Anthony I and Ofanson E. J. Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.
Abstract
This paper examined the theoretical and empirical literature on the determinants of
the supply side intermediation performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. In order
to realize the objectives of the study relevant quarterly time series data were collected
from 1994 to 2005. In analyzing the data, the study employed one of the popular
econometric techniques that has attracted much attention in dynamic empirical macro
economic research (that is, the error correction model: ECM) with a view to knowing
the predictive power. It was found that deposit interest rate (DRI), treasury bill rate
(TBR) and foreign exchange rate (FER) are important determinants of the commercial
banks deposit in Nigeria. It was also found that any estimation on the supply side
intermediation performance of commercial banks involving the use of the ECM
yields better and more reliable results than that involving the use of the orthodox
ordinary least square (OLS) method. The paper recommended that in the interest of
the economy, the policy of abandoning the traditional banking operation which is
lending in preference to trading in the foreign exchange market should be reviewed
and moderated.
“African Art and the New Humanism”
Ochigbo, Simon Best, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Abstract
The following essay examines African art in line with the philosophy of New
Humanism, and how it fulfils human dignity and value. The relationship of man
and his creator is examined through art, vis-à-vis religion and man’s constant search
for the reason for being. The theory of creationism which attributes the existence
of everything in the universe to the direct creative act of the Supreme Being, and
presents man as the apex and pinnacle of God’s creation is discussed. New Humanism
is discussed as it aims at reconciling people to the original humanism, the sort of
humanism pursued by the Renaissance Humanists. The paper takes a careful look at
African art as an art of culture, philosophy and personality, as realistic views of life
expressed in the symbolic structure of the work of art, IMAGE being the link. African
art is characteristically humanistic, as what constitutes arts is determined by its effect
on man, either positively or negatively. The paper concludes that, in structure, African
art can be seen to consist of the following features; belief and ancestors. It is important
to note that outside of God, full human dignity and values cannot be realized.
HEALTH / GENDER STUDIES
Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women
in Nigeria
Augustina Izadi Anakwe, University of Jos, Nigeria
Abstract
The paper takes a look at Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women.
The risk factors, screening, therapy and diagnosis, some forms of modern treatment
were mentioned and described, their effects on victims enumerated and possible
remedies spelt out for the management, reduction or eradication of the disease.
Child Battering Tendencies in Nigeria:
A Complementary Approach to Child Abuse Eradication
Suleiman Dikko, Federal College of Education, Katsina
Abstract
Considering the pattern and manner of constitutional passages of child related laws
and the contract of ambition of National Philosophy of Education in Nigeria which
requires the promotion of physical, emotional and psychological development of all
children, much is required from the educational sector to salvage the situation. This
paper therefore identifies and describes an aspect of child abuse – child battering,
with particular reference to the form and dimensions it is taking in the society for the
purpose of identifying factors that predict the abuse. The path and cues that could aid
in identifying potential victims and batterers are presented and it is recommended
that rather than over concentrate on child abuse laws, a predictive approach that
emphasizes the need to fund test instrument development for predicting child battery
tendencies should be undertaken.
Religion and Philosophy
Tension Between the Scientific and the Magical Worldviews
in Africa: A Philosophical Re-appraisal Against the Canvass
of Post-Modernism
Obi Okogbuo. Federal Univeridity of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
Introduction
From the time of African integration into the global systems,1 the magical and the
scientific worldviews in Africa have been in tension. This tension is not peculiar
to Africa. It is recorded in nearly every culture and epoch going back as far as the
ancient Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Hebrews. It became accentuated at the first
stirrings of the scientific Worldview with early Greek natural science. The naturalistic
accounts of the first recorded early Greek philosophers, Thales and his followers,
were in tension with earlier mythical accounts of Homer, Hesiod and Xenophanes.2
The main feature of the Hippocratic Corpus3 is that it “…challenged the methods of
many physicians who used magic and witchcraft to treat disease. It taught that diseases
had natural cause and could therefore be studied and possibly cured according to the
workings of nature.”4 Plutarch, a fifth century Greek biographer recorded an account
of prognostication about Pericles. According to the account, a one-horned ram was
presented to Pericles as gift. Lampoon a fortuneteller divulged this to mean that Pericles
would in future rise to become a maximum leader. Anaxagoras, a nature philosopher,
demonstrated by opening the skull of the ram that the single horn was of natural
cause and foretold nothing. People were excited by his naturalistic demonstration.
When, however, much later, Pericles became the maximum leader of Athens for 30
years, Lampoon’s prognostication was fulfilled and he won the admiration of the
people.5 The fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries marked the immediate threshold
of the birth of modern science.
Artificial versus Natural Intelligence:
An Adendum to the Philosophy of Mind
Kyrian Ayiba Ojong, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) exhibited by computers is one of those recent developments
in modern science that is causing waves in the philosophy of mind. Can there be
artificial minds? Can machines be made to think? Can machines be conscious? Is
it possible for artificial intelligence to replace the human brain? These and similar
questions pervade most discussions and philosophical polemics on the issue of
artificial intelligence. While some analysts think that in a very fundamental sense,
artificial intelligence is a myth; others argue that at least in principle, a machine can
be constructed that will do anything that a human organism will. Thus, this paper
seeks in the main, to examine what “artificial” intelligence is all about as well as the
prospects and limitations of “intelligent” machines, that is, what they can or cannot do
as compared with the functioning of human or natural intelligence.
Ethics of Care: A Panacea to the Niger-Delta Crises.
N.M. Eribo and M.A. Izibili, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria
Abstract:
This paper examines the relevance of ‘ethics of care’ in the furtherance of a harmonious
relationship between the Federal government, multi-national oil companies with the
indigenous communities in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. The paper is of the
view that when the ‘ethics of care’ is properly applied to the Niger-Delta conflict and
communal eruptions that is currently threatening the unity of Nigeria on one hand,
and her image internationally among committee of nations on the other hand, it is in
our considered opinion that the ‘sun of hope will beam’ on the wretch region once
more. By extension, normal activities of peaceful co-existence between the trio i.e the
Nigerian government, the various multi-national oil companies and the indigenous
people, will again flourish in the region. Then tolerance, agreeable relationship that
fosters mutual co-existence and cooperation toward sustainable development of the
area would have come to stay. The paper concludes that communal conflict in Niger-
Delta will be greatly reduced and sufficiently managed by the incorporation of the
ethical principles, which constitute the ‘ethics of care’.
Church and State in the Social and Political
Realms Through the Ages
Louis Monieri Manyeli, National University of Lesotho
Abstract:
The thrust of the paper is that man by nature is a political animal. To do politics or
take part in politics is part of his very nature as a human being. It is argued that it is
wrong and unfair to deprive any human being, including the clerics, of the right to
take part in politics. It is therefore wrong and unfair for the government to keep the
clerics out of politics. It is worth noting that the author will confine himself to the
Catholic Church. Hence, the clerics referred to here are Catholics clerics.
Geography and Regional Planning
Development Options as Strategies for Conflict Reduction
in Protected Areas: An assessment of People’s Preferences
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria
Elizabeth E.Andrew-Essien, Francis E. Bisong & Adebayo I. Animashaun,
University of Calabar, Calabar
Abstract
This paper explores development options as effective strategies for conflict reduction
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. It also discusses the tensions that result
from the different development and conservation priorities that confront such humaninhabited
protected areas as the Cross River National Park. The success level of the
various conservation initiatives is examined from the communities’ perspectives in the
preferred conservation and development options The paper using the Questionnaire
and the Participatory methodologies, sought to examine the various strategies that have
been employed in the Cross River National Park to enhance sustainable development.
A total of two hundred and eighty-one (281) questionnaires were randomly distributed
to respondents within eight selected study communities. The five focus groups
earmarked for appraisal included the community leaders, hunters, farmers, Non-
Timber Forested Products (NTFP) gatherers, and loggers. The findings revealed
the preferred development options to include skills acquisitions, establishment of
small agro-allied industries, and indigenous participation in the administration and
operation of the park management.
Geography and Regional Planning
Development Options as Strategies for Conflict Reduction
in Protected Areas: An assessment of People’s Preferences
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria
Elizabeth E.Andrew-Essien, Francis E. Bisong & Adebayo I. Animashaun,
University of Calabar, Calabar
Abstract
This paper explores development options as effective strategies for conflict reduction
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. It also discusses the tensions that result
from the different development and conservation priorities that confront such humaninhabited
protected areas as the Cross River National Park. The success level of the
various conservation initiatives is examined from the communities’ perspectives in the
preferred conservation and development options The paper using the Questionnaire
and the Participatory methodologies, sought to examine the various strategies that have
been employed in the Cross River National Park to enhance sustainable development.
A total of two hundred and eighty-one (281) questionnaires were randomly distributed
to respondents within eight selected study communities. The five focus groups
earmarked for appraisal included the community leaders, hunters, farmers, Non-
Timber Forested Products (NTFP) gatherers, and loggers. The findings revealed
the preferred development options to include skills acquisitions, establishment of
small agro-allied industries, and indigenous participation in the administration and
operation of the park management.
Analysis of Rainfall Distribution Over Enugu During the
Little Dry Season (1990-2005)
Enete Ifeanyi Christian, Nnamdi Azikiwe University,Awka and Ebenebe Izuchukwu,
N Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Oshodi-Lagos
Abstract
Rainfall is highly variable in both time and space, particularly in sub-humid tropical
regions like West-Africa. This paper examines the variations in rainfall distributions
over Enugu metropolis during the “little dry season” from 1990-2005 for the months
of June, July, August and September. Statistical techniques like Time Series charts
with Trend line analysis and standard deviation were used to depict the temporal
distribution of rainfall in Enugu urban. The results show that the temporal variations
in rainfall for the months under consideration were not significant enough to regard
it as a true little dry season. The mean annual rainfall for the period of study over
Enugu urban area was found to be 4687.59mm with a standard deviation of+/-18.11
and a coefficient of variation of 6% approximately. The study further shows that 1997
was the wettest year, while 1994 was revealed to be the most rainfall deficit year. In
analyzing the four months under consideration for the period of the study, a rainfall
total of 3822.4mm was recorded with 1998 recording the lowest monthly rainfall value
in August of 96.2mm.The month of August recorded the lowest total monthly rainfall
value for the entire period of study. The total number of dry spell days in Enugu urban
area for the period of study is 810 days. 1996 recorded the highest number of dry spell
days while the lowest number of dry spell days was recorded in 1991 with 43 days.
ICT and Mass Communication
Information Communication Technology (ICT)
and Documentation in Tertiary Institutions
Virgy Onyene, University of Lagos, Pat Mbah;Federal College of Education,
(Technical), Lagos and S.C Madumere, University of Lagos,
Abstract
This paper assessed the issues and relevance of electronic devices to the administration
and control of tertiary institutions information details. The use of modern electronic
devices, with particular attention to the computers which was explored to ascertain the
extent documentation enhances organizational effectiveness. Nigeria with its teeming
population of about 140 million needs to meet up with the real of the world in the
face of ICT revolution. Information and documentation processes are most imperative
now that technology has advanced to such a level that impact heavily on competitive
business and administration. The paper takes its conceptual framework from
structural principles of the Max Webber’s classical bureaucratization of organizations
which proposed the entrenchment of downward-upward flow of communication with
copious documentation. It therefore outlined the role of ICT in the documentation of
day-to-day as well as future educational operations in a tertiary setting. Observable
challenges to tertiary institutions in Nigeria include that most of their facing a lot
of managerial crisis due absence and, or inadequacy of ICT tools; knowledge and
complexities. The paper therefore proffered possible solutions to the way forward.
Global Media and Media Products in Nigeria
Olise, Festus Prosper, Delta State University, Nigeria
Abstract
Virtually all the countries in developing nations like Nigeria have criticized western
domination of the global media. The effects of this western domination has affected
not just the media of developing nations but also, their media products, which has
resulted to media/cultural imperialism in the disguise of globalization. It is against this
backdrop that this paper which anchored it theoretical framework on the Electronic
Colonialism Theory and the Development Media Theory, x-rays the relationship
between the global media and Nigeria media products such as news, editorials/
commentaries, documentaries, interviews, films etc by examining the influences of
global media on the media products of Nigeria and the challenges before the Nigeria
media in their attempt to become part of the global media in this 21st century. It
was observed that most Nigerian media products are most of the time products of
western influences especially when considering the nature of her news values which
are western oriented. Hence, the author calls for the restructuring of the news values
of Nigeria media to reflect the cultural environment of the country on their media
products. This notwithstanding, it was concluded that the Nigeria media, while trying
to climb the ladder of becoming part of the global media, should not forget to promote
the culture and values of Africa in their news values and media products.
From Past to Present:
The Issue of Communication in a Polarized World
Nkereuwem Udoakah, University of Uyo and Aniefiok Udoudo, Cross River
University of Technology, Nigeria
Abstract
Resulting from persistent complaints by the developing countries in the 1970’s, of
imbalance in information-flow between the developing and developed countries of the
world, the UNESCO, in 1976, constituted a commission headed by Sean Mac Bride
of Ireland, to look into information and communication between the two divides of
the world. The committee went to work and submitted its report to UNESCO in 1978.
The report of the committee confirmed the existing gap in information flow between
the developed and the developing countries. Also established in the report was the
fact that ownership and control of information and communication technologies were
solely in the hands of the developed countries. There was therefore, the need for
New World Information and Communication Order. Thirty years after, this paper has
examined the information and communication relationship between the two divides of
the world and the gap rather seems to be widening on. The developing countries are
challenged to be insightful in searching for ways of bridging the gap. Solutions from
international agencies to this widening gap may continue to remain a mirage.
From Past to Present:
The Issue of Communication in a Polarized World
Nkereuwem Udoakah, University of Uyo and Aniefiok Udoudo, Cross River
University of Technology, Nigeria
Abstract
Resulting from persistent complaints by the developing countries in the 1970’s, of
imbalance in information-flow between the developing and developed countries of the
world, the UNESCO, in 1976, constituted a commission headed by Sean Mac Bride
of Ireland, to look into information and communication between the two divides of
the world. The committee went to work and submitted its report to UNESCO in 1978.
The report of the committee confirmed the existing gap in information flow between
the developed and the developing countries. Also established in the report was the
fact that ownership and control of information and communication technologies were
solely in the hands of the developed countries. There was therefore, the need for
New World Information and Communication Order. Thirty years after, this paper has
examined the information and communication relationship between the two divides of
the world and the gap rather seems to be widening on. The developing countries are
challenged to be insightful in searching for ways of bridging the gap. Solutions from
international agencies to this widening gap may continue to remain a mirage.
Editorial
There is a new kid on the block! This is the groundbreaking issue of the newly biennial
LWATI Journal and we are truly glad to welcome you - the readers, essayists and stake
holders. You are the main reason for the birth of this new baby. We therefore dedicate
it entirely to you. Please accept it with pleasure!
Through our foray into this lofty intellectual and ennobling endeavour, we have
discerned a great desire on the part of African and Africanist scholars and critics
to express ideas and opinions in their relevant areas of specialization. The LWATI
Journal could not have emerged at a more auspicious time to meet this legitimate
aspiration. We would be glad if these expressions promote knowledge and learning
in our communities. The key goal of LWATI is to advance knowledge where ever the
Journal is read and evaluated.
We are profoundly thankful to GOD Almighty and to essayists, reviewers and readers
for enabling this Journal to flourish. We equally wish you happy reading and abundant
blessings! Please spread the knowledge that you gain from LWATI.
Francis Ibe MOGU,
Editor.
Education
Demand and Supply of Teachers for Primary
Schools in the 21st Century Nigeria
M.O. Omo-Ojugo, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria
Abstract
How to ensure Nigerians have access to Universal Basic Education has often
attracted the attention of some States and Federal Government of Nigeria since 1955.
Several factors, bordering on supply of teachers, facilities, finance have constrained
implementation of well fashioned policies. Demand and supply of teachers for
primary schools have serious consequences on the implementation of primary school
education in Nigeria.
This paper explores the demand and supply of teachers for primary schools in the
21st century in Nigeria especially with the introduction of Universal Basic Education
in Nigeria and attempts to ensure the attainment of United Nations Millennium
Development Goals and Education for All (EFA) by the year 2015.
Stress Profile of Secretarial Administration
Students in Nigeria
Monday Bassey Ubangha, University of Lagos, Nigeria and Mary B. Ubangha
Lagos State Police Command,
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship of some demographic
variables to the experience of stress among trainee secretaries. Additionally,
the prevalence and sources of stress among trainee secretaries were studied. Four
hypotheses and two research questions were formulated for investigation. The study
was a descriptive survey and employed the Student Stress Inventory developed by the
researchers to garner the relevant data. A total of 100 participants (35 males and 65
females) drawn from the Department of Secretarial Studies, The Polytechnic, Calabar -
Nigeria took part in the study. The respondents were drawn from all the grade levels of
the ND and HND programmes and were aged between seventeen and thirty-five with
a mean age of 24.6years. Results following the analysis of data indicate significant
differences in stress levels among Secretarial Administration students due to gender
and pre-training experience. Females seemed to experience more stress than their
male counterparts while those with the relevant pre-training experience reported less
stress than those without the relevant pre-training experience. However, stress among
trainee secretaries was independent of their age and marital status. About 64% of the
respondents found training for secretaryship as either extremely stressful or stressful.
The major sources of stress to trainee secretaries were examination syllabuses too
demanding in some courses and too much academic assignment to do each day while
the least sources were campus living conditions, overcrowding in hostels and the
consequences of engaging in too much social activities to the detriment of school
work. Based on these findings some recommendations were made
To Teach or not to Teach: The Politics of
Becoming a Business Education Teacher.
Burman M. Sithole, University of Botswana
Abstract
This article examined the perceptions and attitudes of Business Education trainee
teachers towards teaching as an employment option in life. The findings revealed that
business graduates were reluctant to take up teaching as a career mostly because it was
not viewed as a financially rewarding profession. Students had expectations of landing
higher status and highly paying jobs in commerce, industry and the public sectors. They
felt that the knowledge and skills they acquired in undergraduate business courses
would not be fully utilised in teaching. To attract graduates to teaching, competitive
salaries and conditions of service would need to be put in place and there is need by
educators to market teaching and elevate its status as a career option when outlining
career opportunities to business students.
Business Educators’ Views on the Entrepreneurial
Competencies Needed by Business Education Graduates in
Edo and Delta States of Nigeria
Ojo, Kennedy E. College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin, and
Ekpenyong, Lawrence E, University of Benin,
Abstract
This study investigated Business Educators’ views on the entrepreneurial competencies
needed by business education graduates in Nigeria. A 23-item instrument was used
for this study. The study sample comprised all the 66 Business Education lecturers
in the universities and colleges of Education in Edo and Delta states of Nigeria. Edo
and Delta states are neighbouring states located in the south-south geo-political zone
of Nigeria. They are also one of the petroleum oil producing areas in Nigeria. The
collected data were analysed using the descriptive statistics, while the t-test measure
was used for testing the hypothesis. The findings of the study reveals that all the
respondents agreed that the 23 competency items are needed by business education
graduates. Furthermore, the findings show a no significant difference in the views of
male and female business education lecturers on the entrepreneurial competencies
needed by them. Finally, some recommendations that are likely to enable both the
pre-service and in-service acquire relevant entrepreneurial competencies have been
proffered.
Quality and Standard Balancing in Nigerian
University Education: Implications for the Attainment
of the Millennium Development Goals
Onyene, Virgy, University of Lagos, Uche, Chineze, University of Port-Harcourt,
and Ikebude, Osita St. Augustine’s College of Education, Akoka – Yaba, Nigeria
Abstract
Education is very crucial in human capital development for the attainment of
excellence in the vision area of macro economic, population growth, equity, and
natural resource and environmental management. Thus for education to remain
“instrument per excellence” (NPE 2004), it must be of high quality with an acceptable
standard tone. This paper took its conceptual framework from existing practice
ennoblement assumptions, the educational variables that can be utilized to attain
quality and standard balance in Nigeria universities. Also, this paper constructively
matched operative issues found to be constraining quality and standard in university
education in Nigeria with strategic solutions in order to balance sustainable system on
theory and practice. It argues that there still exists educational policies such as quota
system and government non- chalant attitude to education, thus there is need for a
review of higher education policies in the light of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDG). This paper therefore posits that for positive reflection of the MDG in higher
education, the government should consider the review and implementation of these
educational variables in universities.
Awareness and Curricula Integration of Sustainable
Development Indices in University Programmes in Nigeria
Ahunanya Stella , University of Port Harcourt and Uche Chineze Nigerian Army
School of Finance and Administration, Lagos, Nigeria.
Introduction
The very essence of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) makes it
imperative for any developing nation to put in place the where- withal not only to
adopt and implement the resolution of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD) in order to meet the challenge of its products ability to fit into
the third Industrial Revolution of the globalized 21st century world, but also to make
sure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are achieved before the 2015
which automatically translates to accelerated economic growth and development.
Since the ESD enables people to anticipate and meet the challenges that threaten
their very existence as citizens of nations and planet earth, Nigeria being a developing
nation has realized that education is the most important key to be used in opening
the door to economic growth and development and this she enunciated in her
development programme- the National Economic Empowerment and Development
Strategy (NEEDS).
Connecting Reading and Writing Through Whole
Language Activities: A Strategy For Achieving
Literacy for National Development
Adeosun A. O. and Maduekwe A. N. University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Introduction
Of paramount concern to all countries of the world is the need to adequately develop
their citizenry to cope with the challenges of the today’s knowledge societies. This
concern recognizes the fundamental importance of teaching literacy skills, not only as
a means for people to be able to read and handle words, sentences and ideas, but it also
requires them to take the information they have read, apply it for their own purposes,
and also learn new things Good reading, comprehension and communication skills
are therefore essential in handling the wide range of knowledge people are exposed
to in their daily life.
History
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
and the Struggle for Democratisation in Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe) 1972-1980
Munyaradzi Mushonga, National University of Lesotho
Abstract
Christian Churches have played, and continue to play important roles in the histories
of many African countries. In Southern Africa, the Catholic Church played an
important role in the liberation struggles of many countries. This paper examines the
contribution of the Catholic Church through the lens of the Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace in the democratisation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). It advances
the proposition that the Church, through the Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace, played an important role in the internationalization of the Rhodesian crisis
between 1972 and 1980. It argues first, that the Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace performed a sterling job of breaking the enormous silence about the horrifying
things that were taking place in Rhodesia through the preparation, publication and
dissemination of objective information; second that the Commission succeeded in
countering Rhodesian government’s propaganda and psychological warfare campaign;
third and finally that the Commission brought enough internal and external pressure to
bear on the Rhodesian government to hasten its collapse.
Obolo (Andoni) Women in The Nigerian Civil
War, 1967-1970
John H. Enemugwem and Romokere B. Sara, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract
The thrust of this paper is the activities of women in the Nigerian Civil War.
Considering the Obolo (Andoni) experience, it deliberates on their contributions in
six major areas. First is the part they played in the causes of the war. Second are
their socio-economic roles during the war. The third concerns their enlistment in
the army and paramilitary forces. Obolo women also performed broadcasting and
propaganda duties. Their presence in the paramedical corps, with which they saved
lives, was equally significant. After the war they did not relent in contributing towards
the reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes of the war affected
areas.
Language Study
Deprivation and Development of Indigenous Languages:
An Evaluation of Cross River State, Nigeria.
Offiong Ani Offiong, University of Calabar,, Nigeria
Abstract
Deprivation like poverty is a catch-phrase on every developing economy. The threat
(real or imagined) posed by poverty to growth from any dimension is at the root of
stagnation, including Language Development. Language development is a task of
preparing a language to serve as a vehicle for literacy and education. It is a conscious
intervention policy to revitalize languages. Everyone wants clear communication in
the development process and this will aid to clearly stipulate how deprivation affects
languages development. We used sociolinguistic underpinnings to analysis and
explain the vulnerability of Cross River State to poverty and language development.
We have been able to come out with the following key findings – deprivation like
poverty affects language development. Language growth, because of poverty is
stagnant as it concerns most languages and finally language extinction rare its head in
areas where poverty strives.
The Role of African Christian Discourse in Redefining
Identity, Literature and Language Education in Southern
Africa: The Case of the Founding Text of Paul Mwazha’s
African Apostolic Church
Andrew Tichaenzana Manyawu, National University of Lesotho,
Abstract
Being both a subject and a medium of learning, language is the vehicle through
which society passes its worldview to youths. This raises questions of selection and
grading of material to be incorporated into syllabi and textbooks. This paper argues
that Southern African language syllabi need a paradigm shift in order to better reflect
an African society seeking to reaffirm its identity after decades of oppression. There is
need to open up the language curriculum to discourses widely consumed by Africans
but hitherto ignored by formal educational systems still biased towards Western
worldview. These include the discursive production of African Instituted Churches
(AIC). The founding text of the African Apostolic Church (AAC) of Zimbabwean,
Paul Mwazha, is examined from the perspective of intertextuality in order to illustrate
its literary and educational value. A case is then made for the inclusion of such texts
in secondary school curricula in Southern Africa.
Literature
Gender Roles in Initiation Songs of the
Igembe People of Kenya
John M. Kobia, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya and
Kitula King’ei Kenyatta University, Nairobi - Kenya
Abstract
This article examines and critically analyses gender images in initiation songs among
the Igembe community, an African ethnic group of Eastern Bantu in Kenya. The article
traces the evolution of the concept of gender from Plato’s time to the 21st Century and
places it within the Igembe people’s worldview using initiation songs as a point of
reference. It is revealed that both man and woman play a crucial and complementary
role in the socio-economical life in Igembe community. However, despite the crucial
role that women play, they are devalued due to societal attitudes and beliefs as evident
in the initiation songs analysed.
Proverbial Dirges: The Urhobo Example
Felicia Ohwovoriole, University of Lagos
Abstract
The proverb is a literary expression of wisdom which offer the speaker a medium for
the projection and fulfilment of a variety of socially desired goals. The proverb is an
instrument of cultural transmission and its study can give a penetrating picture of the
people’s way of life, their philosophy, their criticism of life, moral truths and social
values. Many proverbs abound in Urhobo funeral chants, songs and recitations and
most of the proverbs have several meanings. One of Nwoga’s important observations
about the Igbo proverb which is true of Urhobo proverbs is that most proverbs have
three meanings: the literal, the philosophical and the contextual. The paper focuses on
proverbs embedded in Urhobo funeral poetry and their literary and contextual analysis.
The data gathering methods adopted is participatory observation and interviews.
Autofictional themes, Practices and Strategies in View of
the Construction of Intercultural Values at the University
of Swaziland.
Karen Ferreira-Meyers, University of Swaziland,
Abstract:
This article explores the notion of autofiction/faction: a post-modern literary concept
which represents a blend of fact and fiction. At the same time, the paper wants to draw
the reader’s attention on the pedagogical possibilities of autofictional writing in the
teaching of literature at the University of Swaziland. The notion of interculturality,
with its goal of creating understanding of and among people, while safeguarding the
relative identities of the actors involved, guides the analysis of postmodern feminine
writing in the form of three Francophone women authors, C. Beyala, N. Bouraoui
and A. Nothomb. Beyala writes autofiction from a feminist perspective, hers is the
struggle for recognition of women rights and women’s autonomy within a patriarchal
society. Bouraoui came to autofiction from a psychoanalytical perspective, which
makes her a descendant from Doubrovsky, the inventor of the autofiction neologism.
Nothomb proposes a very personal and cathartic relationship to writing through which
she wished to reach women in general. In conclusion, the article suggests the benefits
of the analysis of the concept of autofiction as well as of the themes and language
used in autofictional texts to university students in Swaziland because they promote
intercultural understanding and acceptance.
A Critical Study of Joseph Edoki’s The African Dream”
Jude Aigbe Agho, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
In all these novels, the oligarchy to be found at the top of the
party hierarchy is depicted as vulgar, sensual and uncultured.
The luxury of ministerial offices and official residences is
blatant and extravagant, cynicism is the order of the day,
drinking to excess frequent, and power is simply a way of
getting rich. … (Claude Wauthier. The Literature and Thought
of Modern Africa. 1978: 320)
In whose name should the ‘handful’ monopolize the riches of
our countries? In whose name should they live in excessive
luxury while the rest strive to obtain food? These are some of
the questions that the African writer asks himself, or at least
those a self-respecting African writer should ask himself.
(Coovi Innocent Datondji, 1980: 88)
Abstract
As can be seen from the above epigraphic statements, the image of governance in novels
written by African writers about civilian governments and military regimes in African
nations has generally been bleak, negative, directionless and vacuous, especially so
in novels about post-independence Africa, where power has become in the hands of
the ruling class, whether civilian or military, a conduit-pipe for self-aggrandizement,
embezzlement of public funds, corruption, graft and hero-worshipping. African
writers across the continent, starting with Nigeria’s Chinua Achebe in A Man of the
People and Anthills of the Savannah, Soyinka in The Interpreters, Festus Iyayi in
Violence, The Contract and Heroes and Abubakar Gimba in Sunset for a Mandarin,
through Ghana’s Ayi Kwei Armah in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Fragments
and Osiris Rising, to Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o in A Grain of Wheat, Petals of
Blood, Devil on the Cross, Matigari and Wizard of the Crow have generally depicted
governance in Africa as we have painted above. The attitude of indignation and protest
expressed in the above-mentioned texts is not misplaced, but derives from the writers’
frustration resulting from the truncation of the joy of the masses of the African people
shortly after the attainment of political independence as a result of the derailment of
their pre-independence expectations by the African ruling class.
However, so many years after the attainment of independence in African nations
and states, there is the need for African writers as custodians of the values of their
societies, reformers and beacons of hope of the African people to foist a paradigm
shift from the hitherto nihilistic and pessimistic outlooks of their creative works to
The Nigerian Novel and the Imperative of Good Governance
164 LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 6(2) 2009
one that is essentially supportive of the general drive to re-orientate and transform the
society for good. This is one sure way of sustaining the growth of democracy and good
governance in Africa. In Nigeria, this shift is clearly seen in one novel by a Nigerian
writer, namely: Joseph Edoki in The African Dream.¹ This study is based essentially
on this text as it critically assesses governance as portrayed in the spotlighted novel
against the backdrop of the realities that are observable in the larger society.
Authenticating History With Oral Narratives:
The Example of Ekajuk Clan in Ogoja Local
Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria
Francis Mowang Ganyi, University of Calabar, Nigeria.
Abstract
It is generally accepted that oral narratives serve as a veritable means for historical
reconstruction. This holds true, particularly in societies where written documents
do not subsist. The Ekajuk community, though very warlike, is a relatively small
community that lacks a written history. The attempt to reconstruct the history of their
migrations and settlements up to present day has necessitated this write-up which is
intended to serve as a reference point for future historical or anthropological work
in the area. The write-up is further expected to serve as a historical record for the
teaching of Ekajuk history in Primary and Secondary schools in the area.
Through interviews and oral renditions, the writer has traced Ekajuk movements
and their supposed ancestors from Zululand in East Africa, through the Cameroon
republic, to their present location in Nigeria. The exercise however, requires
painstaking sifting of oral narratives to synthesize with oral information provided by
elders in order to get a historical view-point. It is however, rewarding in the end.
Translation, Principles and Application in
Theatre and Media Studies.
Edde M. Iji, University of Calabar Nigeria
Abstract
Theoretically, the paper discusses the principle and practice in translation as broadly
applicable to theatre and media studies. It characterises translation as one of the literary
triplets to which also belong adaptation and transposition; each a phenomenon of art
as imitation, capable of extending its frontiers of knowledge through processesual
recycling of an existing original source text to a target text, also capable of ideally
observing a good measure of literary fidelity; in respect of its original source text,
diachronically and synchronically, with all its semiological essences. Thus the
paper discusses, among other subtitles in focus, the essence of its message, a history
of translation as encapsulated from the renaissance to postmodernism, emphatic
on African experience in translation, perspectives on translation, principles and
application. It dwells on faithfulness in translation with appropriate examples visà-
vis salient elements of subversive translation; translation as conditioned by sociocultural
milieux and related concepts in the process of recycling, cloning and updating
of historical, metaphysical and philosophical circumstances and constructs. Like
adaption and transposition, it is an aspect of irreducible and inalienable mythos, in all
its literary essence. In this regard, it is a transcultural, intercultural and intracultural
phenomenon, with coordinate interlingual, translingual and intralingual paradigms,
promotional to civilization, growth and enrichment of multiculturalism. Translations
have afforded generation after generation opportunities to share in the rich ideas,
ideals, discoveries, inventions and theories of iconic figures like Christ, Aristotle,
Plato, Galileo and Kopernicus etc; enriching humanity immeasurably, timelessly and
pricelessly.
Mother/Daughter Relationship: Psychological
Implication of Love in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Onuora Ben Nweke, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Motherhood posed great challenges to African American women under slavery as
reflected in literary works by Black writers. Black mothers lost the opportunity and
freedom to perform roles of ‘caregivers’ to their children. Instead, their children’s
milk was appropriated, under very humiliating and intolerable conditions, to nourish
white babies whose mothers were incapacitated. As victims of such humiliating and
shameful experiences, the black women, realizing the implication of this situation
to their sex, developed survival strategies to protect themselves and their female
children. This resulted in some very strange relationships between mothers and their
daughters.
This paper re-examines Toni Morrison’s Beloved to identify an example of the
types of mother/daughter relationship that existed between black mothers and their
daughters and the implications of such relationship on the Black American society.
The paper is a psychoanalytic reading, utilizing Melanie Klein’s Object Relations
theory to reveal the psychological motivations for the behaviour of the protagonists
of the novel in the peculiar circumstances they find themselves. The paper exposes
the slave masters’ strategies under the slave regime in America and the psychological
implication of decimating the blacks and their family institutions on the generation of
the Blacks in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Mother/Daughter Relationship: Psychological
Implication of Love in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Onuora Ben Nweke, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Motherhood posed great challenges to African American women under slavery as
reflected in literary works by Black writers. Black mothers lost the opportunity and
freedom to perform roles of ‘caregivers’ to their children. Instead, their children’s
milk was appropriated, under very humiliating and intolerable conditions, to nourish
white babies whose mothers were incapacitated. As victims of such humiliating and
shameful experiences, the black women, realizing the implication of this situation
to their sex, developed survival strategies to protect themselves and their female
children. This resulted in some very strange relationships between mothers and their
daughters.
This paper re-examines Toni Morrison’s Beloved to identify an example of the
types of mother/daughter relationship that existed between black mothers and their
daughters and the implications of such relationship on the Black American society.
The paper is a psychoanalytic reading, utilizing Melanie Klein’s Object Relations
theory to reveal the psychological motivations for the behaviour of the protagonists
of the novel in the peculiar circumstances they find themselves. The paper exposes
the slave masters’ strategies under the slave regime in America and the psychological
implication of decimating the blacks and their family institutions on the generation of
the Blacks in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
The Concept of Illness and Musical Intervention Among
Members of the Iyayi Society of the Esan, Edo State of
Nigeria.
Charles Onomudo Aluede, and Omoera Osakue Stevenson, Ambrose Alli University,
Nigeria
Absract
The healing effect of music on man is very significant in most parts of the world.
However, not much has been done by African researchers to study music and the
ailments it heals especially among the peoples of Nigeria. This work examines the
therapeutic effect of music in Iyayi society of Esan community, Edo state of Nigeria.
The concept of illness, illness causation, the healing system and the specific songs
used in healing of some ailments are investigated. It was found that music in the
society is used as medicine as well as accompaniment to healing rites. The study
concludes that Iyayi songs hold much promise for the development of pan African
music therapy and as such should be notated. It therefore recommends that Iyayi
songs are of immense benefits in the treatment and management of labour pains,
insomnia and general debilities.
Politics and Development
Down the Great Drains: A Sociological Discourse of the
Entangle and Challenges of Corruption and Development in
Nigeria
E. B. J. Iheriohanma, Federal University of Technology, P. M. B. 1526 Owerri, Imo
State Nigeria.
Abstract
The drains in human and material resources and the challenges posed by corruption
to socio- economic development, particularly in third World countries have remained
an indelible enigma. The economic growth rates in industrially developed economies
of the North and recently, the Asian Tigers are rising geometrically while the per
capita income in the developing economies have either been declining, constant or
have risen at negligible rates. Major causes of this development status are traced to
the inability of the developing countries, particularly in Africa to insist on standards
of authentic and knowledge leadership, problems of insecurity, fear of investment and
dearth of enabling structures for development. Corruption has been seen to be at the
centre of this cataclysmic crisis of development. It dampens the spirit of identification,
commitment, entrepreneurship, patriotism and nationalism. It commits the citizenry to
a socio-psychological duel in their efforts for survival. This paper uses three paradigms
to explain this duel. It suggests a reform redirected at the cultural values of material
acquisition, a holistic fight on corruption, adoption of transparency in governance, use
of critical agenda and local organizations for micro-economic stability to counter the
effects of corruption and underdevelopment.
Aborigines-Migrant Settlers Crisis and Reconstruction
Efforts in two Yoruba Communities in South Western
Nigeria
Adisa Ademola and Agunbiade Ojo M., Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.
Abstract
Communities coexist for several reasons. Many traditional Yoruba communities are
not an exemption as quite a number of communities were brought together partially
based on the need to fight against a common enemy as well as prevent invasion. Ile-Ife
and Modakeke-Ife are two neighbouring communities demonstrating such historical
background. The communities have co-existed peaceful for several decades, shared
many things in common including cases of intermarriages until they started having
communal clashes. The crisis have caused significant changes to the existing social
relations between the two communities, resulting in widespread breakdown of law and
order, destruction of lives and properties as well as homelessness and dispossession
of farmlands. Despite the intensity of the crisis and the overwhelming odds, the
communities have remained as neighbours. What are the sources of the communities’
resilience amidst the disaster? Forty Seven in-depth interviews were held with two
groups of adults (youths and the elderly) on gender basis who are residents in the
two communities. Findings revealed that informal social network and some formal
community institutions were the most significant factors enhancing participants’
resilience during and after the crisis. However, the study also disturbingly revealed that
there is still bitterness centring on farm land rights within the community, and partisan
politics have undermined previous efforts at addressing the issue. The study concludes
that disrupted social networks could erode community cohesion and political factors
have the potential to further diminish resilience against crisis in the future.
Africa and Ethnic Conflict Management:
A Comparative Study of Nigeria and South Africa
Patrick Osatohamwen Oviasuyi and Jim Uwadiae, Ambrose Alli University,
Nigeria.
Abstract
This paper proposes, among other things, that ethnic conflicts in Africa are
fallout of colonialism. Relying on the comparative study of Nigeria and South
Africa, it is the contention in this paper that ethnic conflict which has been at the
heart of African countries development problem is a product of skewed economy,
authoritarian governance and religious bigotry. There is no gainsaying the fact that
African countries in contemporary times contend with greater challenges to peace
and stability than ever before. Conflicts igniting factors in Africa have been a hotch
- potch of insecurity, instability and poverty manifesting in hunger and starvation.
All these are themselves products of corrupt and rapacious political institutions that
assumed power in the African countries. This has been the case in countries of sub-
Saharan Africa like Sierra-Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and the Democratic Republic
of Congo. The contention therefore in this paper is that conflict has become a reoccurring
decimal in Africa because the countries lack political will and consequently
ineffective in conflict management. This paper is also meant to be a contribution
towards the ongoing search for new means of managing ethnic conflict in Africa. The
paper compares the management of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and South Africa with
a view to underscoring the intricacies in managing deep-rooted and complex conflicts
in Africa.
Socialism as an African Social and Political
Philosophy: Senghor’s Paradigm
Godwin Azenabor, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Abstract
The paper interrogates the meanings and practices of African political thoughts,
especially the theory put forward by Leopold Sedar Senghor. What is the distinguishing
factor of African Socialism? What is the direction of African socio-political philosophy?
What is the African conception of man that determines the socio-political theory? It is
in an attempt to answer these and other related questions that the paper is written.
We argue that Socialism is socialism; there cannot be anything like African Socialism,
European Socialism, American Socialism and even Scientific Socialism. This is
because socialism is based on two premises: (i) Equity (ii) Non-exploitation. These
are value-laden, moral and non-scientific. Socialism can be applied as a means of
economic, social and political advancement in any society. Although situation and
condition may differ but the basic productive and distributive principles remain the
same.
Patterns and Processes of Recruitment and
Trafficking into sex Work in Nigeria
Aborisade, R. A. and Aderinto A. A, .University of Ibadan
Abstract
Nigeria contributes to the global problem of the trafficking of young women and
girls mainly for sexual exploitation as a major country of origin of the victims.
Using information gathered from Edo and Lagos States of Nigeria, through the
use of Case studies, In-depth and key-Informant Interviews, this paper probes the
strategies employed by the traffickers and activities that characterize the recruitment
and trafficking into sex work. The study found the family to be both facilitators of
recruitment and exploiters of the prostitution of their relatives. The recruitment patterns
and trafficking processes were characterized with incidences of deception, extortion,
violence and exploitation with severe consequences on the emotional, psychological
and health condition of the victims. To contain the activities of the traffickers, the use
of formal and informal channels of education to enlighten the populace on the ulterior
motives of the traffickers is suggested.
Towards a Genuinely Participatory Approach to
Poverty Alleviation in Uyo Lga, Akwa Ibom State
Charles E. Udosen, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Abstract
Research evidence shows that commercial banks are not keenly interested in
financing agriculture The commercial banks on the other hand argue that the farmers
and governments have not provided a default risk-reducing environment to enhance
lending. In the light of the foregoing , the participatory rural appraisal technique
[PRA] is being proposed as a remedy for rapid transformation of the agricultural
sector/poverty reduction. There is the need therefore for a thorough insight into the
different dimension of default risk as a means of suggesting some ways by which it
could be reduced. It is for this reason that PRA was employed in this survey to identify
potential beneficiaries before evolving the loan scheme. It is crucial as we can now
maintain close contact with the borrowers through regular visit to keep the obligation
constantly before him.
Political Anger: The Basis for Contemporary Lack
of Civility in Nigerian Politics
William .E. Odion, and Patrick N. Uhumwangho, College of Education, Igueben,
Edo State. Nigeria
Abstract
The incidence of political anger and its dynamics calls for concern in the political
arena. It has left in its trail all forms of casualties and threat to political and
democratic stability in Nigeria. This paper argued that high stakes in politics, limited
avenues for ventilating anger, the tendency to focus on majority ethnic groups while
leaving the minority, conflict of interest and personality among political elites, the
structural dysfunction of political parties, the nature of electoral process, institutional
collaboration amongst others are responsible for political anger. It further argued that
violence and other forms of negative political behaviors particularly during elections
are the manifestation of political anger. The consequences are enormous and are both
on the individual and nation. Methodologically, the article relies on secondary data
for its analysis and concluded by suggesting measures that can be taken to minimize
political anger in the polity.
The Determinants of Supply Side Intermediation
Performance of Commercial Banks in Nigeria:
An Error Correction Mechanism Approach
Enoma, Anthony I and Ofanson E. J. Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.
Abstract
This paper examined the theoretical and empirical literature on the determinants of
the supply side intermediation performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. In order
to realize the objectives of the study relevant quarterly time series data were collected
from 1994 to 2005. In analyzing the data, the study employed one of the popular
econometric techniques that has attracted much attention in dynamic empirical macro
economic research (that is, the error correction model: ECM) with a view to knowing
the predictive power. It was found that deposit interest rate (DRI), treasury bill rate
(TBR) and foreign exchange rate (FER) are important determinants of the commercial
banks deposit in Nigeria. It was also found that any estimation on the supply side
intermediation performance of commercial banks involving the use of the ECM
yields better and more reliable results than that involving the use of the orthodox
ordinary least square (OLS) method. The paper recommended that in the interest of
the economy, the policy of abandoning the traditional banking operation which is
lending in preference to trading in the foreign exchange market should be reviewed
and moderated.
“African Art and the New Humanism”
Ochigbo, Simon Best, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Abstract
The following essay examines African art in line with the philosophy of New
Humanism, and how it fulfils human dignity and value. The relationship of man
and his creator is examined through art, vis-à-vis religion and man’s constant search
for the reason for being. The theory of creationism which attributes the existence
of everything in the universe to the direct creative act of the Supreme Being, and
presents man as the apex and pinnacle of God’s creation is discussed. New Humanism
is discussed as it aims at reconciling people to the original humanism, the sort of
humanism pursued by the Renaissance Humanists. The paper takes a careful look at
African art as an art of culture, philosophy and personality, as realistic views of life
expressed in the symbolic structure of the work of art, IMAGE being the link. African
art is characteristically humanistic, as what constitutes arts is determined by its effect
on man, either positively or negatively. The paper concludes that, in structure, African
art can be seen to consist of the following features; belief and ancestors. It is important
to note that outside of God, full human dignity and values cannot be realized.
HEALTH / GENDER STUDIES
Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women
in Nigeria
Augustina Izadi Anakwe, University of Jos, Nigeria
Abstract
The paper takes a look at Breast Cancer a Multifaceted Phenomenon in Older Women.
The risk factors, screening, therapy and diagnosis, some forms of modern treatment
were mentioned and described, their effects on victims enumerated and possible
remedies spelt out for the management, reduction or eradication of the disease.
Child Battering Tendencies in Nigeria:
A Complementary Approach to Child Abuse Eradication
Suleiman Dikko, Federal College of Education, Katsina
Abstract
Considering the pattern and manner of constitutional passages of child related laws
and the contract of ambition of National Philosophy of Education in Nigeria which
requires the promotion of physical, emotional and psychological development of all
children, much is required from the educational sector to salvage the situation. This
paper therefore identifies and describes an aspect of child abuse – child battering,
with particular reference to the form and dimensions it is taking in the society for the
purpose of identifying factors that predict the abuse. The path and cues that could aid
in identifying potential victims and batterers are presented and it is recommended
that rather than over concentrate on child abuse laws, a predictive approach that
emphasizes the need to fund test instrument development for predicting child battery
tendencies should be undertaken.
Religion and Philosophy
Tension Between the Scientific and the Magical Worldviews
in Africa: A Philosophical Re-appraisal Against the Canvass
of Post-Modernism
Obi Okogbuo. Federal Univeridity of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
Introduction
From the time of African integration into the global systems,1 the magical and the
scientific worldviews in Africa have been in tension. This tension is not peculiar
to Africa. It is recorded in nearly every culture and epoch going back as far as the
ancient Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Hebrews. It became accentuated at the first
stirrings of the scientific Worldview with early Greek natural science. The naturalistic
accounts of the first recorded early Greek philosophers, Thales and his followers,
were in tension with earlier mythical accounts of Homer, Hesiod and Xenophanes.2
The main feature of the Hippocratic Corpus3 is that it “…challenged the methods of
many physicians who used magic and witchcraft to treat disease. It taught that diseases
had natural cause and could therefore be studied and possibly cured according to the
workings of nature.”4 Plutarch, a fifth century Greek biographer recorded an account
of prognostication about Pericles. According to the account, a one-horned ram was
presented to Pericles as gift. Lampoon a fortuneteller divulged this to mean that Pericles
would in future rise to become a maximum leader. Anaxagoras, a nature philosopher,
demonstrated by opening the skull of the ram that the single horn was of natural
cause and foretold nothing. People were excited by his naturalistic demonstration.
When, however, much later, Pericles became the maximum leader of Athens for 30
years, Lampoon’s prognostication was fulfilled and he won the admiration of the
people.5 The fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries marked the immediate threshold
of the birth of modern science.
Artificial versus Natural Intelligence:
An Adendum to the Philosophy of Mind
Kyrian Ayiba Ojong, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) exhibited by computers is one of those recent developments
in modern science that is causing waves in the philosophy of mind. Can there be
artificial minds? Can machines be made to think? Can machines be conscious? Is
it possible for artificial intelligence to replace the human brain? These and similar
questions pervade most discussions and philosophical polemics on the issue of
artificial intelligence. While some analysts think that in a very fundamental sense,
artificial intelligence is a myth; others argue that at least in principle, a machine can
be constructed that will do anything that a human organism will. Thus, this paper
seeks in the main, to examine what “artificial” intelligence is all about as well as the
prospects and limitations of “intelligent” machines, that is, what they can or cannot do
as compared with the functioning of human or natural intelligence.
Ethics of Care: A Panacea to the Niger-Delta Crises.
N.M. Eribo and M.A. Izibili, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria
Abstract:
This paper examines the relevance of ‘ethics of care’ in the furtherance of a harmonious
relationship between the Federal government, multi-national oil companies with the
indigenous communities in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. The paper is of the
view that when the ‘ethics of care’ is properly applied to the Niger-Delta conflict and
communal eruptions that is currently threatening the unity of Nigeria on one hand,
and her image internationally among committee of nations on the other hand, it is in
our considered opinion that the ‘sun of hope will beam’ on the wretch region once
more. By extension, normal activities of peaceful co-existence between the trio i.e the
Nigerian government, the various multi-national oil companies and the indigenous
people, will again flourish in the region. Then tolerance, agreeable relationship that
fosters mutual co-existence and cooperation toward sustainable development of the
area would have come to stay. The paper concludes that communal conflict in Niger-
Delta will be greatly reduced and sufficiently managed by the incorporation of the
ethical principles, which constitute the ‘ethics of care’.
Church and State in the Social and Political
Realms Through the Ages
Louis Monieri Manyeli, National University of Lesotho
Abstract:
The thrust of the paper is that man by nature is a political animal. To do politics or
take part in politics is part of his very nature as a human being. It is argued that it is
wrong and unfair to deprive any human being, including the clerics, of the right to
take part in politics. It is therefore wrong and unfair for the government to keep the
clerics out of politics. It is worth noting that the author will confine himself to the
Catholic Church. Hence, the clerics referred to here are Catholics clerics.
Geography and Regional Planning
Development Options as Strategies for Conflict Reduction
in Protected Areas: An assessment of People’s Preferences
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria
Elizabeth E.Andrew-Essien, Francis E. Bisong & Adebayo I. Animashaun,
University of Calabar, Calabar
Abstract
This paper explores development options as effective strategies for conflict reduction
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. It also discusses the tensions that result
from the different development and conservation priorities that confront such humaninhabited
protected areas as the Cross River National Park. The success level of the
various conservation initiatives is examined from the communities’ perspectives in the
preferred conservation and development options The paper using the Questionnaire
and the Participatory methodologies, sought to examine the various strategies that have
been employed in the Cross River National Park to enhance sustainable development.
A total of two hundred and eighty-one (281) questionnaires were randomly distributed
to respondents within eight selected study communities. The five focus groups
earmarked for appraisal included the community leaders, hunters, farmers, Non-
Timber Forested Products (NTFP) gatherers, and loggers. The findings revealed
the preferred development options to include skills acquisitions, establishment of
small agro-allied industries, and indigenous participation in the administration and
operation of the park management.
Geography and Regional Planning
Development Options as Strategies for Conflict Reduction
in Protected Areas: An assessment of People’s Preferences
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria
Elizabeth E.Andrew-Essien, Francis E. Bisong & Adebayo I. Animashaun,
University of Calabar, Calabar
Abstract
This paper explores development options as effective strategies for conflict reduction
in the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. It also discusses the tensions that result
from the different development and conservation priorities that confront such humaninhabited
protected areas as the Cross River National Park. The success level of the
various conservation initiatives is examined from the communities’ perspectives in the
preferred conservation and development options The paper using the Questionnaire
and the Participatory methodologies, sought to examine the various strategies that have
been employed in the Cross River National Park to enhance sustainable development.
A total of two hundred and eighty-one (281) questionnaires were randomly distributed
to respondents within eight selected study communities. The five focus groups
earmarked for appraisal included the community leaders, hunters, farmers, Non-
Timber Forested Products (NTFP) gatherers, and loggers. The findings revealed
the preferred development options to include skills acquisitions, establishment of
small agro-allied industries, and indigenous participation in the administration and
operation of the park management.
Analysis of Rainfall Distribution Over Enugu During the
Little Dry Season (1990-2005)
Enete Ifeanyi Christian, Nnamdi Azikiwe University,Awka and Ebenebe Izuchukwu,
N Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Oshodi-Lagos
Abstract
Rainfall is highly variable in both time and space, particularly in sub-humid tropical
regions like West-Africa. This paper examines the variations in rainfall distributions
over Enugu metropolis during the “little dry season” from 1990-2005 for the months
of June, July, August and September. Statistical techniques like Time Series charts
with Trend line analysis and standard deviation were used to depict the temporal
distribution of rainfall in Enugu urban. The results show that the temporal variations
in rainfall for the months under consideration were not significant enough to regard
it as a true little dry season. The mean annual rainfall for the period of study over
Enugu urban area was found to be 4687.59mm with a standard deviation of+/-18.11
and a coefficient of variation of 6% approximately. The study further shows that 1997
was the wettest year, while 1994 was revealed to be the most rainfall deficit year. In
analyzing the four months under consideration for the period of the study, a rainfall
total of 3822.4mm was recorded with 1998 recording the lowest monthly rainfall value
in August of 96.2mm.The month of August recorded the lowest total monthly rainfall
value for the entire period of study. The total number of dry spell days in Enugu urban
area for the period of study is 810 days. 1996 recorded the highest number of dry spell
days while the lowest number of dry spell days was recorded in 1991 with 43 days.
ICT and Mass Communication
Information Communication Technology (ICT)
and Documentation in Tertiary Institutions
Virgy Onyene, University of Lagos, Pat Mbah;Federal College of Education,
(Technical), Lagos and S.C Madumere, University of Lagos,
Abstract
This paper assessed the issues and relevance of electronic devices to the administration
and control of tertiary institutions information details. The use of modern electronic
devices, with particular attention to the computers which was explored to ascertain the
extent documentation enhances organizational effectiveness. Nigeria with its teeming
population of about 140 million needs to meet up with the real of the world in the
face of ICT revolution. Information and documentation processes are most imperative
now that technology has advanced to such a level that impact heavily on competitive
business and administration. The paper takes its conceptual framework from
structural principles of the Max Webber’s classical bureaucratization of organizations
which proposed the entrenchment of downward-upward flow of communication with
copious documentation. It therefore outlined the role of ICT in the documentation of
day-to-day as well as future educational operations in a tertiary setting. Observable
challenges to tertiary institutions in Nigeria include that most of their facing a lot
of managerial crisis due absence and, or inadequacy of ICT tools; knowledge and
complexities. The paper therefore proffered possible solutions to the way forward.
Global Media and Media Products in Nigeria
Olise, Festus Prosper, Delta State University, Nigeria
Abstract
Virtually all the countries in developing nations like Nigeria have criticized western
domination of the global media. The effects of this western domination has affected
not just the media of developing nations but also, their media products, which has
resulted to media/cultural imperialism in the disguise of globalization. It is against this
backdrop that this paper which anchored it theoretical framework on the Electronic
Colonialism Theory and the Development Media Theory, x-rays the relationship
between the global media and Nigeria media products such as news, editorials/
commentaries, documentaries, interviews, films etc by examining the influences of
global media on the media products of Nigeria and the challenges before the Nigeria
media in their attempt to become part of the global media in this 21st century. It
was observed that most Nigerian media products are most of the time products of
western influences especially when considering the nature of her news values which
are western oriented. Hence, the author calls for the restructuring of the news values
of Nigeria media to reflect the cultural environment of the country on their media
products. This notwithstanding, it was concluded that the Nigeria media, while trying
to climb the ladder of becoming part of the global media, should not forget to promote
the culture and values of Africa in their news values and media products.
From Past to Present:
The Issue of Communication in a Polarized World
Nkereuwem Udoakah, University of Uyo and Aniefiok Udoudo, Cross River
University of Technology, Nigeria
Abstract
Resulting from persistent complaints by the developing countries in the 1970’s, of
imbalance in information-flow between the developing and developed countries of the
world, the UNESCO, in 1976, constituted a commission headed by Sean Mac Bride
of Ireland, to look into information and communication between the two divides of
the world. The committee went to work and submitted its report to UNESCO in 1978.
The report of the committee confirmed the existing gap in information flow between
the developed and the developing countries. Also established in the report was the
fact that ownership and control of information and communication technologies were
solely in the hands of the developed countries. There was therefore, the need for
New World Information and Communication Order. Thirty years after, this paper has
examined the information and communication relationship between the two divides of
the world and the gap rather seems to be widening on. The developing countries are
challenged to be insightful in searching for ways of bridging the gap. Solutions from
international agencies to this widening gap may continue to remain a mirage.
From Past to Present:
The Issue of Communication in a Polarized World
Nkereuwem Udoakah, University of Uyo and Aniefiok Udoudo, Cross River
University of Technology, Nigeria
Abstract
Resulting from persistent complaints by the developing countries in the 1970’s, of
imbalance in information-flow between the developing and developed countries of the
world, the UNESCO, in 1976, constituted a commission headed by Sean Mac Bride
of Ireland, to look into information and communication between the two divides of
the world. The committee went to work and submitted its report to UNESCO in 1978.
The report of the committee confirmed the existing gap in information flow between
the developed and the developing countries. Also established in the report was the
fact that ownership and control of information and communication technologies were
solely in the hands of the developed countries. There was therefore, the need for
New World Information and Communication Order. Thirty years after, this paper has
examined the information and communication relationship between the two divides of
the world and the gap rather seems to be widening on. The developing countries are
challenged to be insightful in searching for ways of bridging the gap. Solutions from
international agencies to this widening gap may continue to remain a mirage.
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