The Cultural Realms and Their Implications for Development: A study of Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms

Traditions are very important for a community, society, family or organization. They are like glue that holds people together and continues to do so for generations. Although it is beneficial to man there are some aspects of tradition that are actually harmful and even dangerous. In this study of Season of Crimson Blossoms by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim we see some of these traditions and the effect they have on the characters. The Objective was to show that literature helps us become aware of harmful traditional practices and even positions us to make interventions. The paper also notes how these traditions are mainly targeted at women and girls. The methodology was largely qualitative.

Shades and Nuances of Socio-Political Anomy in Edge of the Brink: Interpretive Reading of Ifechi Jane Odoe’s Polysemy and Positivist Polemics

<p>This paper evaluates the multiplex nature of the dramatized decadence and the nuances of salvation prescribed by Ifechi Jane Odoe as encapsulated in her positivist polemics in Edge of the Brink. Primarily this study’s discussion revolves around interpretive reading of her shades of representation to extrapolate on the attributions subsumed in her portrayal. To examine the subject matters, this study leans on the view that social realities are evolutionary and not permanently static, that the pace of evolutionary trends of social realities vary from one society to another, and that influential factors such as custom, religion, and human circumstances contribute in many ways in propelling a continual re-aggregation of social realities for individuals as well as communities. Hence, this paper discusses the metaphors as well as trajectories to the dramatized decadent polis and the contextualization of suitable re-birth as Odoe proposes in the focused play. To this end, this paper adopts Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s theory on ‘social construction of reality’ as its preferred theoretical framework. Lastly, the analysis of the focused text and relevant scholarly perspectives is based essentially on interpretive discuss analysis and attribution polemics.</p>

Assessing Cultural Management of Abuja Carnival

Culture is a major instrument for identifying a people. Over time, Nigeria’s diverse cultures have been celebrated with fun-fare and pageantry for tourism carnivals. The management process of such cultural celebrations becomes worthy of study. The concept of Cultural management is basically out to examine the influence of administration on a culturally-based festival like the Abuja carnival. The idea is to examine the past visions of the Carnival in comparison with the present challenges with the view of clearly solving such problems to ensure a more globally accepted product. The study employs the deductive and analytical methods of research to investigate the concept of Cultural management in Abuja Carnival. In the deductive method, we derive some vital information relevant to the study through interviews with some Artistic directors of the Abuja carnival. For the analytical method, we assess the cultural management through the review of related literatures, magazines and performance brochures. Among others, the study reveals that Abuja Carnival suffers serious funding challenge from its major sponsor which is the federal government of Nigeria. Also, despite having the same preparatory process, the approaches of the studied directors vary according to their perception of what a carnival should be which does not maintain the overall vision of the carnival. It also came to the fore that certain external factors such as national security challenge contribute to the factors militating against the targeted increase in foreign troupe participation in the Carnival. The study concludes that Abuja carnival have increased private sector sponsorship which will lessen the bureaucratic challenge from the major sponsor. Furthermore, private-sector driven sponsorship will accommodate healthy competition and encourage better result in revenue generation among others.

Purse, Soul and Intellectual Poverty: A Self-Infested Cause in Ben Tomoloju’s ‘Jankariwo’

Nigeria is a nation blessed beyond the borders of lack, yet Nigeria may be described from the planes as an impoverished state. A cross section of the dissection of the problems anchored within reveals that poverty and lack are the sole conditions upon which evident incongruities rest. Poverty of the soul, purse and of the mind or intellectual rationality are the major tripartite wheel upon which the glitches of the nation is foregrounded. This is manifested in the application of followership and leadership traits, the ways and manners that issues and concerns are treated are evidences of capricious leadership. It is believed that when leaders dothe needful and are sensitive enough to the provision of basic amenities to the citizenry, Nigeria state would have been one of the world powers. But the insensitivity and venality of our supposed leaders are unforgiveable and unforgettable, which has afflicted and infested on many families’ purse, soul and their intellectual deficiency. Evidences of aforementioned are captured in the play “Jankariwo”. This paper intends to chronicle the manners in which our leaders perpetrate their nefarious, callous, and ferocious acts with impunity, which has brought the country and many Nigerians to their knees via poverty affliction. However, the paper shall harvest the sociological theory and analytical methodology in dilating the level of these leaders’ ungodly act infested on those who voted them into power through Ben Tomoloju’s ‘Jankariwo’, (Cobwebs).

Ending Religious Extremism in Northern Nigeria: A Study of Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday

Fundamentalism has been defined as an unwavering faith to a religious system. Although it could be applied to adherents of any religion, today it is mostly associated with Islam. Islam is said to have arrived Nigeria in the 11th century through the activities of mostly traders but it eventually took root and spread through the Fulani jihad of Usman Dan Fodio and the establishment of the Sokoto caliphate. From the late 1970s several reform movements have taken place but the most violent have been that of Maitatsine and currently the Boko Haram insurgency. Born on a Tuesday is a story about religious fundamentalism told by Dantala an almajiri. In telling the story we see the various issues that create an atmosphere in which fundamentalism thrives. Gladly in stating the issues we also note the solutions. This paper therefore discusses the problem of fundamentalism and highlights the solutions as evident in the book.

Shared Situational Knowledge Exhibited in Christian Counselling Interactions: Jay E. Adams Examples

Speech actors in Christian counselling exhibit shared situational knowledge and assumptions in constructing meaning and in the negotiation of the goal of the interaction. This is particularly helpful to the counsellor for effective counselling andas a prerequisite for the proper diagnosis of myriad of issues confronting man in addition to showing empathy to the client. Against the advocacy, from a segment of scholars, for the exclusion of context from, or, that context is only tangential to meaning, this study, based on the sociolinguistic framework provided by Dell Hymes (1962) as modified by Levinson’s (1979) ‘notion of activity type’ explores shared situational knowledge (SSK) among interactants with examples drawn from the Jay E. Adams’ counselling cases. The study concludes that SSK manifests as social, religious and emotional undercurrents in the counselling situation. This understanding is a vital tool in providing the counsellor a linguistic direction in his investigation and the subsequent advice on diverse problems that are brought to his desk.

The Pragmatics of Film Language and Sentence in the Creation of African Myths in Nigerian Movies: An Evaluation of Obi Emelonye’s The Mirror Boy

<table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" width="618"><p align="center"> </p></td></tr><tr><td width="168"><p align="center"> </p></td><td width="265"><p align="center"> </p></td><td width="186"><p align="center"> </p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" valign="top" width="618"><p>African myths or mythological reality of African extractions is one major source of raw materials the Nigerian movie industry popularly called Nollyword explores as an avenue for generating content for their films. Mythological realities like the appearance of the dead, re-incarnation, potency of the gods, life after death, the communion between the living and the dead and many more often times are represented in the Nigerian movies. Art evidently is a representation of the people’s culture. It is also a vehicle through which the people’s culture is driven. Myths are part of African culture and their efficacy in the preservation and sustenance of Nigerian culture appears to be the reason why the representation of mythological reality in Nigerian films has become a recurring decimal. It appears that the representation of mythological reality in Nigeria movies is yet to attain a level where the audience will be submerged into the world of the myths. This is because the potential audience has a consciousness and a preconceived idea of how these characters should be represented due to the archetypal nature of mythical characters. The audience should not through these representations have doubts over the potency of the African and Nigerian myths. To achieve this level of reality in the depiction of mythological reality, this chapter advocates for a pragmatic utilisation of the film sentence and language. The Mirror Boy released in 2011 a film by Obi Emelonye is used as case study to establish the roles of film language and sentence in the representation of mythological reality.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

Policy Declaration and Nigerian Indigenous Languages: A Case for Improved Incentives for English Language Teachers

<p>This paper argues that the lack of commitment to implementing the declarations and language provisions of the National Policy on Education not only has adverse effects on the development of these indigenous languages, but conversely, continues to confer prime status on the place of the English language in the Nigerian education system. Further, it establishes that there is a relationship between the non implementation of policy declaration on indigenous languages and the exposure of Nigerians to the English language which in turn continues to contribute to the global status of English as the language of power and intellectual discourse. By extension therefore, onerous responsibility is placed on the teacher of the English language to properly transmit knowledge to students to equip them to meet social and educational expectations. Hence, the problem of poor performance by students at examinations all of which are written in English can be directly related to the teachers’ competence which in turn can be seen as evidence of non availability of incentives. Consequently, the paper locates the centrality of teacher welfare to increased professional competence, task delivery and productivity. Quantitative data is provided as evidence of the relationship between teacher welfare, task performance and productivity. It is discovered that the absence of these incentives has negatives implications. It concludes by recommending the need for improved English teacher specific incentives to serve as motivation for professional competence and task delivery while enhancing quality student performance and language negotiation on the global platform.</p>

Nigerian Dress Culture: an Anthropo-Linguistic Communication Tool

<p>This paper tries to put forward an anthropo-linguistic approach to the promotion of Nigerian dress culture in corporate institutions. Linguistic anthropology is a twin discipline which is concerned with the study of human society. It examines culture in its totality – traditions, customs, languages, dress, artifacts and technology, together with human social behaviour and relationships. Dress culture belongs to the sub-division of anthropology called ethnology, which looks at cultures in their traditional forms, and in their adaptation to the changing conditions in the modern world. Dress culture is therefore seen in this paper as a system of communication that functions just like any language functions. For instance, the related subject of Semiotics – the science of signs and significations, i.e. the study of symbols and their communicative meanings – has made dress culture an interesting and intriguing mode of communication. Dress is symbolic, iconic and symptomatic, and it is open to diverse interpretations and meanings. Dress code in corporate institutions just like any symbolic language, speaks volume. The authors therefore explore dress culture in its ramification – ethnic / national ceremonial dress, occasional/ festival dress, corporate/professional dress, religious / ritual dress, political dress, etc., the interpretations of colours, and the role of dress culture in the promotion of national identity. It is suggested that Nigerian dress culture must be sensitive to people’s taste, convenience, style, sex, religious belief, and must consider climatic or weather conditions and modernity if it is to serve as a veritable communication tool.</p>

Escapism and the Feminist Agenda in ChimamandaNgoziAdichie’s Purple Bibiscus

<p>Despite the well-known approach among avant-garde feminist novelists in Nigeria of creating agile and assertive female characters to challenge male-domination, Chimamada Ngozi Adichie in Purple Hibiscus creates docile female characters who readily escape into their cocoon to avoid encounters with patriarchy. Her novel however, manages to impact on the feminist agenda by her ingenious depiction of the harsh and unreasonable male hegemony on a mission of self-destruct.</p>